AMOS EATON. II3 



entirely free from what is commonly called starch. His face 

 was highly intellectual, the forehead high and somewhat re- 

 treating, locality strongly marked, and the organs of observa- 

 tion and compassion well developed. His hair was black, and, 

 being combed back, rendered his fine physiognomy still more 

 striking." In the same year the first edition was published of 

 Prof. Eaton's Manual of Botany, a work the appearance of 

 which, according to Dr. Lewis C. Beck, gave an impulse to the 

 study of botany in New England and New York, which had 

 been hampered by the want of a manual in English. The only 

 descriptive work previous to this one was that of Pursch, in 

 which the descriptions were in Latin. The Manual was added 

 to and became fuller, in successive editions, till the eighth 

 edition, published in 1840, was a large octavo volume of 625 

 pages, known as the North American Botany of Profs. Eaton 

 and Wright, and contained descriptions of 5,267 species of 

 plants. 



From Williams College the lectures were extended, in the 

 shape of courses, with practical instructions to classes, to the 

 larger towns of New England and New York. Prof. Eaton 

 was greatly aided in this enterprise by the patronage and en- 

 couragement he had received from the faculty and students 

 of Williams College, and the fame he derived from his lectures 

 there ; and he made an acknowledgment of this fact in dedi- 

 cating the second edition of his botany to the president and 

 professors, when he said, "The science of botany is indebted 

 to you for its first introduction into the interior of the North- 

 ern States, and I am indebted to you for a passport into the 

 scientific world." In the course of two or three years, says 

 Prof. H. B. Nason, to whose Biographical Record of the Rensse- 

 laer Polytechnic Institute we are most largely indebted for the 

 material for this sketch, " Prof. Eaton diffused a great amount 

 of knowledge on the subjects of his lectures ; and so far excited 

 the curiosity and enthusiasm of many young students that 

 there sprang up, as a result of his labours, an army of botanists 

 and geologists." The late Prof. Albert Hopkins, of Williams 

 College, accrediting Prof. Eaton with being one of the first to 

 popularize science in the Northern States, mentioned as among 

 his special qualifications for the task an easy flow of language, 

 a popular address, and a generous enthusiasm in matters of 

 science, which easily communicated itself to his pupils. He 



