140 SOME AMERICAN MEDICAL BOTANISTS 



few years later, the whole, of his usual work to 

 become United States Assayer," his time for writ- 

 ing became still more scanty, as the head of the 

 treasury frequently asked his help in questions 

 of counterfeit and other monetary problems. 



Still, there were compensations, notably when, 

 in 1865, that same head sent him to California 

 by way of the Isthmus, whereby his health 

 became better and his herbarium more complete 

 as he experienced the enjoyment of plucking, 

 with his own hands, flowers he had named and 

 described from dried specimens. The invalu- 

 able herbarium, along with a choice botanical 

 library, he left to Columbia College. 



A goodly number of the scientific societies of 

 Europe gave him membership ; and from Yale he 

 had the honorary M. A., and from Amherst the 

 LL. D. He was president of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, and 

 twice president of the New York Lyceum of 

 Natural History. 



" Almost in his youth a genus was dedicated 

 to him by his correspondent, Sprengel. This 

 proved to be a Glerodendron, misunderstood. A 

 second, proposed by Rafmesque, was founded on 

 an artificial dismemberment of Cyperus. The 

 ground, therefore, was clear, when, thirty or 

 forty years ago, a new and remarkable evergreen 

 tree was discovered in our own Southern states, 



