xin TURTLES GREAT AND SMALL 169 



cram one's fist in " ; the old ones grew mossy on the 

 back, and had often several horse-leeches sucking at 

 them. It was also called the snapping turtle, from its 

 habit of lying in the mud at the bottom, its head only 

 protruded, to snap at fish or young ducks when it could 

 catch them by surprise, and very dexterous it was at 

 the work. Collinson received the fearsome beast with 

 awe, and begged his friend to send no more, one was 

 enough ! He put it in his pond, where it disappeared 

 for more than a year, and so did the fish with which the 

 pond was stocked. 1 



The dried plants received from America were sub- 

 mitted to Gronovius, and later to Solander, for identifica- 

 tion, and many new genera and species were found. The 

 former botanist gave in 1747 the name Bartramia to 

 some tropical plants with burr-like fruits, now a section 

 of the genus Triumfetta (Tiliaceae). Bartram's name 

 was also bestowed by Hedwig in 1789 on a genus of acro- 

 carpous Mosses. Linnaeus is said to have spoken of 

 Bartram as the greatest of natural botanists ; he was 

 elected a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at 

 Stockholm in 1769. Collinson read some of his friend's 

 letters before the Royal Society, and printed in London 

 in 1751 one of his journals of travel. 2 In 1765, through 

 Collinson's efforts, Bartram was appointed by King 

 George III. as his Botanist for Florida, with a salary of 

 50 per annum. This recognition put him in better 

 circumstances, but his zeal soon led him to travel further 

 than his funds allowed, and Collinson had to remind him 

 that his chain had but fifty links, and he must stop when 

 he reached the end of it. 



Bartram was an original member of the American 



1 Chelydra serpentina. See figures and description in W. Bartram's Travels, 

 pis. 4 and 5. T. Ball, The Testudinata ; H. Gadow, Amphibia and Reptiles, 1901. 



2 Observations on the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, Rivers, Productions, Animals, 

 etc., made in his Travels from Pensilvania to Onondago, Oswego and the Lake 

 Ontario. The preface was written by a Mr. Jackson of the Temple. Collinson's 

 copy with his MS. notes, etc., is in the Brit. Mus. Herbarium. A facsimile 

 reprint was issued at Rochester, N.Y., 1895. Bartram's Journal on a Journey 

 from St. Augustine up the River St. John's in Florida, was also published in 

 London about 1767, with a preface by W. Stork, and a second edition in 1769. 

 The original MS. is in the Pennsylvania Hist. Soc. Library. 



