ra, we can no longer imagine tlie citizens of the !c|uence of the inability to carry it beyond a cer 

 niteil Stales indebted to Europe for the luxury of tain point. 



inc. It is not however in the wilds of uncultivated 

 ittirc that we are to obtain vines wortljy of cul- 

 'ation ; it is from seed that new and valuable va- 

 ties" (hybrids ?) " are invariably tobe obtained." 

 also thinks that the 'variety of one of our na- 

 species cultivated under the name of BlaniVs 

 ape may be a hybrid,' a ri;cunistance which is 

 10 stated by Mr Couk, on the autlioiity of Mr 



RU. 



Tlic .Muscadine, according to Sir J. E. Smith, 



Another set of specimens to wliich Mr Pursli 

 hud free access, was that belonging to Mr Ensley, 

 a Gorman naturalist, who had been sent out to 

 America by Prince Lichtenstein. It was particu- 

 larly rich in the vegetable productions of Lower 

 Louisiana and Georgia. 



Thus, by Mr I'ursh's personal exertions and in- 

 dustry, and by the aid of other botanists, he foimd 

 himself, about the year 1807, in possession of ma- 

 terials for a Flora,of North America, amounting 

 the same as the BiUlace grape, and this latter is I to nearly double the number of species enmnera- 

 lled Vilis rolundijolia by Michaux and Pursh. ted by Michanx. He began seriously to think of 

 Professor IIentz, of Chapel Hill, North Oaroli- |Hiblishing them, and applied to some bookseller 



in Philadeli)hia for that purpose ; but his intention 

 was deferred in consequence of his being called 

 upon to take the management of the public Bo- 

 tanic Garden at New York, originally established 

 by Dr David Ilosack, and his private property. — j 

 Here, again, keeping his favorite object resjiecting 

 .the publication of a Flora in view, he had the op-j 

 3, that " the grapes usually are produced singly, portnnity of adding fm-ther to his knowledge of 



informs me that the Scuppernong, common in 

 amps near Newbern, " is a mere variety of the 

 iscadine of the Southern States." " It extends 

 jrmously growing indefinitely, provided you 

 jport it, and the branches do not require cropr 

 Professor IIentz was told that four vines 

 re enough for one acre of ground. He further 



Jom in clusters, though he has seen seven or uhe plants of thS United Stales, and of obtainin; 



ht in one bunch. The wood is peculiar, and 

 ike that of other vines, much more, iiard 

 compact, and in more slender and shorter 

 s. The bark of young branches is of a pale 

 ienish ash color, does not scale off, but is near- 

 smooth, or slightly rugose." He thinks the 

 it will not mature here, as Mr Adlum was un- 

 cessful in obtaining it. 

 The preceding observations are presented you 



Vol.VHL— N... 23- 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



179 



stiil greater assistance, particularly from M. Le 

 Conte of Georgia, and from the estimable Profes- 

 sor Peck,* of New Cambiidge University. 



The writer then states the causes which led to 

 the publication of the Flora Americce Seplentriona- 

 les, or a Systematic .'Vrrangement and Description 

 of tlie Plants of North America, by Prof. Pnrsli, 

 which appeared in London in the year 1813, with 

 24 well executed plates of new species, in 2 vols, 

 atlemen, with the hope that, through your en-!8vo. and continues ; 

 iragement, our botanists tnay be stimulated to In the year 1814, there appealed in America, 

 estigate critically the most esteemed American i printed at Boston, the Florida Bostoniensis, or a 

 pes, with the view of assigning to them, cor- Collection of Plants of Boston, and its Environs, 

 t specific names, and establishing a nomencla-^ by Jacob Bigelovv, M. D. in 1 vol. Svo. It is in 



3 for hybrids and varieties. 

 With much respect, 



your humble servant. 



H. 



ON THE BOTANY OP AMERICA. 



■acts from an article, wriuen by William Jackson 

 ooKEK, l.L. D., F. R. S. K., and published in Dr Brew. 

 ^dinburgli Journal ot" Science. 



n 1802, Mr Pursh had the charge of the ex- 

 iive gardens of VV. Hamilton, Esq. called the 

 odlands, [near Philadelphia] which having im- 

 liately previous, been under the charge of Mr 

 n, an Englishman, and an eminent collector, 

 e founil to be enriched with a number of new 

 valuable plants ; and Mr Pursh aflirms, that 

 )ugh Mr Lyon's means, more rare and novel 

 Its have been introduced from thence to Eu- 

 3 than through any other channel whatever. — 

 herbarium, as well as the living collection of 

 Lyou was of great use to Mr Pursh ; and the 

 ts described by hiin, for specimens seen only 

 iiat herbarium arc numerous, 

 he interesting e.\pedition of Messrs Lewis & 



" -ke, across the vast continent of America to 

 Pacific Ocean, by the way of the Missouri and 

 at Columbia rivers, was productive of a small 

 ection of about 150 species of plants, (but of 

 ch not a dozen were in-eviously known to the 

 ves of America,) which Mr Pursh had the oji- 

 unity of describing. These were gathered 

 ng the rapid return of the expedition from the 



"fific Ocean towards the United States. A far 

 e extensive herbarium had been formed by 

 same expedition on the ascent towards the 

 ky Mountains, and among the chains of the 

 thern Andes ; but this was lost, in conse- 



English, and strictly arranged according to the 

 Linnfean system. It was destined principally for 

 the use of the students in Botany ; and the plants 

 described therein were all collected in two sea- 

 sons, in the immediate vicinity of Boston, or with- 

 in a circuit of from five to ten miles ; and although 

 very few new species are added, the nundicr of 

 individuals is very considerable for so limited a 

 space. During the year 1816, accompanied by 

 our valued friend Dr Francis Boott, Dr Bigelow 

 examined the botany of the White Mountains in 

 New Hampshire, and published an account of it 

 in the New England Journal of Medicine and Sur- 

 gery for that year. This w'as one among many 

 other journeys made by these gentlemen in the New 

 England States, with a view to the publication of 

 a Flora of that Distric.i. The design, however, 

 has been relinquished, and the principal cause, 

 since it has arisen from Dr Boon's naturalization 

 among us we ought not to regret. Science, how- 

 ever, has been a suS'erer; for, from our personal 

 knowledge of this gentleman, we are satisfied that 



"•We recollect when, many years ago, this gentleman 

 did us the honor of a visit in England. He mentioned 

 that his taste for natural history was induced by an (7^- 

 perfect copy of Linnasus's Syslr.ma JVatura:, a work then 

 scarcely known in America, and which he obtained from 

 the wreck of a sliip, which was lost near the spot where 

 he resided. Professor Peck afterwards became eminent, 

 particularly for his knowledge of insects ; and his com- 

 munications to our great entomologist, the Rev. Mr 

 Kirby, are highly valuable. Many of these were pub- 

 lished by Mr Kirby, in the Transactions of the Linniean 

 Society, and amongst them the curious Xenos Pecftii,a.n 

 insect which inhabits the abdomen of the Wasp. Another 

 insect nearly allied to this is the Slylops MaliUi, o? Mr 

 Kirby's Monogrnphia Jipum Angli(c, and which inhabits 

 the same situation in the body of the Honey Bee. 



I ho would have been a most able and zealous co- 

 ! adjntor in such an uudcitaking. A very extensive 



Election of the (ilants of that country has been 

 liberally presented to us by Dr Boott, which has 

 satisfied us, that in the art of preserving speci- 

 mens, no one has ever exceeded, or perhaps ever 

 equallcti him ; and the names are very frequently 

 accompanied by valuable notes. 



It is delightful to see a man of the talents and 

 rank in life of Mr Elliott, of Charleston, the ex- 

 cellent President of the Literary and Philosophical 

 Society of South Carolina, deeply engaged in im- 

 portant public affairs, yet cheerfully devoting his 

 leisure hours to the promotion of the arts and of 

 science, and actually engaged in publishing a 

 Flora, under the u ias^u:ning title of a Sketch of the 

 Flora of Scu'h Carolina and Georgia, which he 

 commenced i 1 1816. This is arranged according 

 to the Linnsean system, having specific charac- 

 ters, both in Latin and in English, and very copious 

 notes atul descriptions. A work thus conducted 

 cannot fail to be of great importance to the student 

 of American botany ; the more so since the au- 

 thor has written from his own personal observa- 

 tion, depending little upon the assistance of others, 

 and in a capital where science has not been so 

 much cultivated as in the Northern States. 



In a letter now before us the author says, "no 

 one in Europe can probably appreciate correctly 

 the difficulty of the task in which I have engaged. 

 The want of books, the want of oi)portunities for 

 examining living collections or good herbaria, the 

 want of coadjutors have all served to render my 

 task arduous, and to multiply its imperfections." 

 Nevertheless, there are many new species, des- 

 cribed with great care and fidelity, and the grasses^ 

 which are accompanied with some neat plates 

 have particularly attracted the author's attention. 

 There are several beautiful novel species, and 

 some newly estaljllsneu genera. We have re- 

 ceived of this work to the 6th No. of the 2d vol. 

 which includes so far as the class Moneecia ; and 

 we are informed by Mr Elliott that another num- 

 ber will complete the fiketch. This we regret, as 

 the work cannot thus take in the C'ryptogama ; 

 and we consider Mr Elliott's talent for minute de- 

 scription admirably calculated for such plants as 

 that class embraces. No man seems more sti'ong- 

 ly impressed with the value of the study of natu- 

 ral history than Mr Elliott. It has been for manj' 

 years," says he, " the occupation of my leisure 

 moments ; it is a merited tribute to say, that it has 

 lightened for me many a heavy, and smoothed 

 many a rugged hour ; that beguiled by its charms, 

 I have found no road rough or difiicult, no journey 

 tedious, no conntry desolate or barren ; in solitude 

 never solitary, in a desert never without employ- 

 ment. I have found it a relief from the languor 

 of idleness, the pressure of business, and from 

 the iin:\voidable calamities of life." 

 (7^0 be continued.) 



QIJERY^ 



Mk I'ksse.nden — We have understood that 

 houses, on a cheap jilan, for forcing the Vine, are 

 in use in the neighborhood of Boston. Would 

 some of your correspondents tell us how these 

 houses are constructed, &c. ? J. L. 



York, Pa. Dec. 17, 1829. 



The Trustees of the Gardner Lyceum havs 

 offered a premium of Fifty Dollars to the person 

 who sliould raise, in the State of Maine, water 

 rot, and prepare for use, the best quality of Hemp, 

 not less than 600 lbs. 



