JOHN TORREY. 335 



Dr. Torrey was a member of many scientific organizations, 

 domestic and foreign. He had presided over the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science, and was twice, for 

 considerable periods, President of the New York Lyceum of 

 Natural History. It has been said of him that the sole distinc- 

 tion on which he prided himself was his membership in the order 

 of the Cincinnati which came to him through his father and 

 grandfather. An association formed by the botanists of New 

 York and vicinity, to which they gave the name of the Tor- 

 rey Botanical Club, grew rapidly from small beginnings to a 

 considerable size. An act of incorporation was obtained for it 

 in 1871 and Dr. Torrey was elected the first president under 

 the charter. This election took place when he was too ill to 

 attend the meeting of the club, and he never assumed the office. 



Two attempts, by Sprengel and Rafinesque, to render to 

 Torrey the customary testimonial that a botanist receives from 

 his fellows having failed, it was fortunately possible to give his 

 name to a remarkable ever-green tree discovered in our own 

 Southern States. Three other species have since been found 

 respectively in California, Japan, and China. All four have 

 been introduced into Europe, and are greatly prized there as 

 ornamental trees ; so that all round the world Torreya taxi- 

 folia ', Torreya Calif ornica, Torreya nucifera, and Torreya grandis, 

 by their perpetual verdure, give aid to his own achievements 

 in keeping green the memory of one of America's foremost 

 botanists. 



Of Dr. Torrey as a man, aside from his scientific work, a 

 friend who had known him long and well has remarked : " He 

 is the only man I ever knew of whom it could be said he was 

 truly lovable." However distinguished his position as a man 

 of science, there was something beyond and beneath this, a per- 

 sonal charm that was the admiration of all his friends. A de- 

 voted Christian, he never obtruded his Christianity, but let it 

 appear in his every relation in life. Belonging to a denomina- 

 tion that is by some considered exceedingly strict, he was most 

 charitable for the opinions of those who believed differently. 

 Knowing that all truths are compatible, he was never dis- 

 turbed by the results of scientific research, being confident, on 

 the other hand, that they would be found in final agreement 

 with all that is truest and best in man's religious beliefs. 



