JOHN TORRE Y. 369 



distinction on which he prided himself was his membership 

 in the order of the Cincinnati, the only honor in this country 

 which comes by inheritance. 



As to the customary testimonial which the botanist receives 

 from his fellows, it is fortunate that the first attempts were 

 nugatory. Almost in his youth a genus was dedicated to him 

 by his correspondent, Sprengel : this proved to be a Cleroden- 

 dron, misunderstood. A second, proposed by Rafinesque, was 

 founded on an artificial dismemberment of Cyperus. The 

 ground was clear, therefore, when, thirty or forty years ago, a 

 new and remarkable evergreen tree was discovered in our own 

 southern States, which it was at once determined should bear 

 Dr. Torrey's name. More recently a congener was found in 

 the noble forests of California. Another species had already 

 been recognized in Japan, and lately a fourth in the mountains 

 of northern China. All four of them have been introduced, 

 and are greatly prized as ornamental trees in Europe. So 

 that, all round the world, Torreya taxifolia, Torreya Cal'i- 

 fornica, Torreya nucifera, and Torreya grandis — as well as 

 his own important contributions to botany, of which they are 

 a memorial — should keep our associate's memory as green as 

 their own perpetual verdure. 



