26 INTRODUCTION 



such men as Bartram, Marshall or Garden in 

 America would frequently despatch a plant to 

 which they had already given the name of their 

 European co-workers in the botanical field; so 

 the study of plant nomenclature, even during one 

 short half-century, yields a delightful harvest 

 concerning the intimate life of scientists on two 

 continents. 



One of the first reuniting links between Eng- 

 land and the Pilgrim Fathers was a floral one. 

 Confronted at the outset with epidemics inci- 

 dental to acclimatization and poor sanitation, the 

 few doctors in America eagerly scanned the pon- 

 derous herbals they had brought over and 

 searched the country in hopes of finding the well- 

 known febrifuge and other remedies they had 

 used in the old country. Ship's captains were 

 given letters to friends asking for plants and seeds 

 required, but these, received after interminable 

 delays, had to be very carefully tended. In 

 searching for remedies, many new and wonderful 

 plants were discovered and sent as specimens or 

 exchanges to the great European botanists, arous- 

 ing their eager interest in the new country and a 

 great desire to have such plants in the botanic 

 gardens then flourishing. 



Boerhaave * at Leyden was in the habit of mak- 

 ing large exchanges, and Dr. Fothergill, 28 who 



24 Hermann Boerhaave, M. D., 1668-1738. 

 86 John Fothergill, M. D., 1712-1780. 



