132 THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 



time. But his strength gradually declined until the 8th of 

 February, 1834, when he died calmly and unconsciously, at 

 the age of fifty-four years. 



De Schweinitz was of high stature, erect carriage and 

 robust habit. He had an unusually amiable and attractive 

 disposition, which made him a general favorite with high 

 and low. His conversational powers were of a high order, 

 and contributed much to an ease of intercourse which was 

 an important factor of his usefulness. Humor, anecdote 

 and repartee were always at his command, while the varied 

 and exciting scenes through which he had passed, and the 

 prominent personages with whom he had come in contact 

 furnished him with an inexhaustible fund of interesting 

 reminiscences. Strange to say, considering his German 

 extraction, he was devoid of any appreciation for music. 

 He spoke and wrote English, German, French and Latin, 

 and was also acquainted with Greek. 



Among his well-deserved honors was the naming after 

 him of Schweinitzia odorata (sweet pinesap), by Stephen 

 Elliott. This is a small plant, found from Maryland south- 

 ward, and bears a spike of flesh-colored flowers which exhale 

 the odor of violets. 



De Schweinitz bequeathed his collection of plants to 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It 

 comprised twenty-three thousand species of phonerogams, 

 and many thousand cryptogams. A large portion of the 

 specimens were from the most remote parts of the world, 

 having been obtained by exchange with American and 

 European explorers. They included the " Baldwin Collec- 

 tion" from Florida, Brazil and La Plata which De 

 Schweinitz had bought, and in which he had found three 

 thousand species not before in his herbarium. 



