JOHN BARTRAM 



1699-1777 

 Lantana Bartramii BALDWIN 



Let John Bartram tell in his own words how 

 he was first led to study the science which made 

 him in after years a pioneer botanist in America. 



" One day," he says, " I was very busy in hold- 

 ing my plough (for thou seest that I am but a 

 ploughman) , and being weary I ran under a tree 

 to repose myself. I cast my eyes on a daisy; I 

 plucked it mechanically and viewed it with more 

 curiosity than common country farmers are wont 

 to do, and observed therein very many distinct 

 parts, some perpendicular, some horizontal. 

 ' What a shame,' said my mind, ' that thee 

 shouldst have employed thy mind so many years 

 in tilling the earth and destroying so many 

 flowers and plants without being acquainted with 

 their structures and their uses.' .... I thought 

 about it continually, at supper, in bed, and wher- 

 ever I went, .... on the fourth day I hired a 

 man to plough for me and went to Philadelphia. 

 Though I knew not what book to call for, I in- 

 geniously told the bookseller my errand, who 

 provided me with such as he thought best, and a 



49 



