166 
INTRODUCTION. 
northern side of Long Island, in which several new species were mentioned. In 
1811, John Le Conte published in the “American Medical and Philosophical 
Register,” a list of four hundred and sixty-eight plants growing on the island of 
New-York. A catalogue of plants indigenous in the state of New-York, was 
published in 1814, by Jacob Green. Frederick Pursh explored portions of the 
state, and incorporated the results of his examinations in his valuable work enti¬ 
tled “ Flora Americas Septentrionalis,” published in 1814. Nuttall, author of 
the “ Genera of North American Plants,” and other learned works relating to the 
botany of this country, has materially aided in perfecting the flora of the state. 
In 1817, the “Lyceum of Natural History” in New-York, ajspointed a com¬ 
mittee to prepare a catalogue of the plants growing within thirty miles of the 
metropolis. The duty was performed by John Torrey, M.D., and the results 
published at Albany in 1819. The localities, times of flowering, synonyms and 
characteristics of new species, were included in the account. Amos Eaton, in 
1818, published his “ Manual of Botany for the Northern and Middle States.” 
This work has passed through eight editions, the last of which was greatly en¬ 
larged, and appeared under the title of “ North American Botany.” The great 
circulation which this book has obtained, is a gratifying evidence of increasing 
interest in this useful department of natural history. Doctor Torrey published 
in New-York, in 1823, a volume designed to be a part of a series entitled “ Flora 
of the Northern and Middle States.” The work comprised only the first twelve 
classes of the Linnean system, and the author then relinquished his purpose 
under a conviction that he would better advance the cause of science by adopting 
the natural method, and by describing the flora of the whole of North America. 
The “ Botany of the Northern and Middle States” was published by doctor 
Lewis C. Beck in 1833, and has greatly contributed to the advancement of accu¬ 
rate botanical knowledge. James Hall and John Wright published, in 1836, a 
catalogue of plants growing in the vicinity of Troy. This work forms a useful 
manual for persons pursuing the study of botany in the valley of the Hudson, 
and contains the names of most of the plants indigenous in the river counties 
