THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 175 



bent even then. At Hanau he was made prisoner. On the 

 final overthrow of Napoleon he came to the United States, 

 landing in New York (Boston ?) in July, 1S16. Settling first 

 in Baltimore, where he married in 1825, he removed to 

 Philadelphia, a city which he made his home during the 

 remainder of his life. He was by profession a pharmaceutist 

 and chemist, and coming to this country when the science 

 of pharmacy was in its infancy, at once took a high position 

 to which his acquirements entitled him. His store at Sixth 

 and Chestnut Streets, where the Ledger Building now stands, 

 was the centre of attraction to the eminent physicians and 

 men of science of twenty or thirty years ago, where his 

 genial bearing and sympathy with scientific pursuits made 

 all such visitors welcome. He contributed pharmaceutical 

 articles to the American Journal of Pharmacy and the 

 Journal de Pharmacie de Paris, and he introduced into 

 Philadelphia the use and manufacture of soda water. 



Mr. Durand was an active member of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, and was for a long time at the head of its 

 committee on botany. He retired from business with a 

 competence, many years ago, but did not give up his love 

 for botany, as nearly every day found him at the herbarium 

 of the Academy engaged in some useful work. 



The manner in which Mr. Durand's attention was 

 directed to the flora of this country is perhaps a bit of history 

 worth recording. An eminent botanist thus relates it: 

 " When Mr. Durand left France for this country, American 

 plants were but little known, and in great demand. Some 

 one gave the young Durand funds with which to purchase 

 him a collection of North American plants. At that time 

 Rafinesque was at the height of his erratic career, and 



