4 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. [ Jan- 
In the summer of 1835 he returned to his father’s home with 
some books received from Dr. Lehmann, of Hamburg, in ex- 
si for plants. In this summer he planned and partly — 
«Elements of Botany,” and when he retarned to New < 
in ale autumn, arranged for its publication. It appeared in hha ; 
1836. In the fall of this year he was appointed curator of the 
collections of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, and in 
its new building he made his home. There he wrote two papers: 
“Remarks on the structure and affinities of the Ceratophyl- 
lacexe ” and “ Melanthacearum Am. Sept. Revisio,” both of which 
were published in 1837. As the duties of his curatorship were 
light, and he had time on his hands, Gray took hold of the work 
of making a preliminary revision of some of the orders for the 
Flora of North America, which had been planned by Torrey. 
He was at this time awaiting the sailing of the exploring expe- 
dition to the South Pacific, to which he had been appointed 
botanist in the summer of 1836. The departure was long de- 
layed. When the “ Wilkes Expedition” finally sailed it was 
with a smaller fleet and a reduced staff. In the meantime (1838) 
Dr. Gray was elected professor of Natural History in the just- 
organized University of Michigan, and when the staff of the 
Wilkes expedition was to be diminished he resigned in favor of 
the assistant botanist, Wm. Rich. 
As in the year or more in which he had been working at it, 
Dr. Gray had sonny oa so much work, Dr. Torrey invited 
him to become joint author of the Flora of North America. In 
July, 1838, the first 08 and in October, 1838, the second part 
of this work was issued. Having gotten so far, it was necessary 
to consult the American collections in European herbaria. Dr. 
Gray therefore asked a year’s leave of absence from the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, that he might go to a urope. This was grant- 
ed, and a considerable sum of money was placed in his hands by 
the trustees to be expended in uitehanilig books for the infant 
University. 
He sailed in November, 1838, and went at once to Glasgow, 
where he was the guest of Dr. W. J. Hooker. In England he 
consulted various public and private herbaria, and met Arnott, 
Greville, Graham, Balfour, Boott, Bentham, Robert Brown, Ben- 
nett, Lambert, Lindley, Bauer, Ward, Menzies and others. In 
March, 1839, he crossed to the continent and made an extensive 
tour of the principal points of interest, keeping in mind always 
the chief object of his visit. In Paris he met Mirbel, Adrien 
Jussieu, Brongniart, Decaisne, Spach, A. Richard, Montagu ue, 
