46 SOME AMERICAN MEDICAL BOTANISTS 



lished their Flora Virginica exhibens Plantas 

 quas in Virginia Clayton collegit (Leyden, 1739 

 and 1745) . These parts were reissued after Clay- 

 ton's death in 1782. Turning over the pages of 

 the Correspondence of Linnaeus, I find some 

 letters which interestingly refer to this. In his 

 letters to Haller, 1737 and 1738, Linnaeus re- 

 marks that " Gronovius will, doubtless, soon pub- 

 lish the plants sent by Clayton from Virginia, 

 unless he considers too long about the matter," 

 and: 



" I have at length received from London a 

 specimen of that American Poly gala for which a 

 certain empyric received a thousand pounds ster- 

 ling from the English American Society; this 

 man having found its root a specific for I know 

 not what disorder. 



" The plant has many characters in common 

 with the Penoea of Plumier. Gronovius no 

 doubt will describe it amongst his Virginian 

 plants. I wish he had not so long hesitated to 

 publish his book. He is too timid. You would 

 scarcely believe how many of the vegetable pro- 

 ductions of Virginia are the same as our Euro- 

 pean ones. There are Alps in the country of 

 New York, for the snow remains all summer 

 long on the mountains there. I am now giving 

 instructions to a medical student here, who is a 

 native of that country" (Adam Kuhn?) "and 



