4 
i 
4nd varieties, of which 26 had not been d 
5 Order to retain the volume within the 
eT re ert Ce a) Fe eee Ee a 
1899] BRIEFER ARTICLES 477 
q “f * 
“upon it with great zeal and industry. As stated in the preface to the 
third edition of his work “with the limited equipment for such an 
undertaking and fully occupied in the discharge of my profession, in 
moments of leisure during three or four years, the task was completed, 
given to the press and favorably received by my contemporaries both 
at home and abroad.’”” How formidable this task was, is stil] more 
apparent when it is considered that, at that time, Florida and the state 
to the west of it were a veritable serra incognita to the botanist. Strongly 
impressed with the necessity of meeting more fully the requirements of 
aflora of the southern states he had to extend the region of the flora 
beyond the limits of the Carolinas and Georgia, to which his attention 
had been chiefly directed, and to bring within its scope all the states 
south of Virginia and Kentucky east of the Mississippi river. 
Gifted with a strong memory, high powers of observation, and 
acute discrimination, patient and unwavering in the effort to arrive at 
the truth, of an untiring industry, knowing no fatigue in the field and 
in the precise record of his observations, he entered upon his task well 
fitted indeed. His descriptions are vivid, concise and clear, intelligible 
tothe general student and the beginner, giving his book the soe of 
Popularity besides its scientific value. The establishment of his genus 
Leitneria, and its exposition as the single type of an interesting natural 
order, evinces the scientific turn of mind and the method required se 
enduring work in phytography, which secured to the author a place In 
the ranks of the writers of authority on systematic botany. ah 
How well he succeeded in his work is proven by ce favor wit 
which it was received. In 1883 appeared a second edition, 4 fhe 
of the first with a supplement containing the descriptions of the et 
Which became known to the author during the interval of twenty-t ee 
Yeats since the first appearence of the book, . 
Circumstances caused a long delay in the issu 
anxiously looked for by all interested in American botany- clature of 
appeared in the beginning of 1897- The plan and nomen ena 
former editions were strictly adhered to. As the author el: 
Preface, “the addition of new matter accumulated since, made 
. iti ‘ nperative in 
“tion and abbreviation of portions of former editions imp ates 
handy limit ;” adding, further, 
fully con- 
that many new species proposed by recent collectors, when fuhly 
firmed, will have to find a place in future issues. 
