82 PIONEERS OF SCIENCE IN AMERICA. 



known to have been a student of Nature. In a note to his 

 Observations on the Desiderata of Natural History Dr. Barton 

 speaks of the " fine collection of North American minerals, 

 which was made by my father near forty years ago, at a time 

 when he paid more attention to this part of natural history 

 than, so far as I know, any other person in the (then) colo- 

 nies." It appears also that the Rev. Thomas Barton was a 

 member of the American Philosophical Society, and corre- 

 sponded with Linnaeus on botanical subjects. 



Young Benjamin early displayed a notable talent for draw- 

 ing, and afterward became also remarkably skilful in etch- 

 ing. His artistic ability was of great service to him in sketch- 

 ing objects of Nature and in criticising the illustrations pre- 

 pared by others for his books. He is said to have maintained 

 that " no man could become a nice, discriminating, and eminent 

 botanist without possessing that acumen in perception of pro- 

 portion, colour, harmony of design, and obscure differences in 

 the objects of the vegetable world which alone belong to the 

 eye of a painter." He insisted on strict accuracy in details 

 that even most careful naturalists would disregard. To men- 

 tion an extreme instance of his exactness, he had every pro- 

 tuberance on the back, tail, and legs of a horned lizard counted, 

 and required the precise number found to be represented in the 

 drawing made for him. 



In the spring of 1780 Benjamin, with one of his brothers, 

 was placed in an academy at York, Pa., where he remained 

 nearly two years, pursuing a course of classical study. When 

 he was sixteen years of age, his elder brother, who was living 

 in Philadelphia, took him into his family, where he remained 

 about four years. During this period he attended for a time 

 the College of Philadelphia, and afterward, at the beginning 

 of his eighteenth year, took up the study of medicine under 

 Dr. William Shippen. 



In the summer of 1785 he accompanied the commission, of 

 which his uncle, Mr. Rittenhouse, was a member, that was en- 

 gaged in running the western boundary line of Pennsylvania. 

 Young Barton was absent from Philadelphia five months, and 

 it was on this expedition that he gained his first acquaintance 

 with the Indians and began his researches into their medicines 

 and pathology, their general customs and history, which re- 

 ceived a share of his attention for the rest of his life. 



