THE 



AMERICAN 

 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 



Art. I. — Notes of a Botanical Excursion to the Mountains of 

 North Caroli7ia, Sfc; with some remarks on the Botariy of 

 the higher Alleghany Mountains, {in a letter to Sir Wm. J. 

 Hooker); by Asa Gray, M. D. 



The peculiar interest you have long taken in North American 

 botany, and your most important labors in its elucidation, indicate 

 the propriety of addressing to yourself the following remarks, re- 

 lating, for the most part, to the hasty collections made by Mr. 

 John Carey, Mr. Jas. Constable and myself, in a recent excursion 

 to the higher mountains of North Carolina. Before entering upon 

 our own itinerary, it may be well to notice very briefly the trav- 

 els of those who have preceded us in these comparatively unfre- 

 quented regions. The history of the botany of the Alleghany 

 Mountains, would be at once interesting, and on many accounts 

 useful to the cultivators of our science in this country ; but with 

 my present inadequate means, I can only offer a slight contribu- 

 tion towards that object. 



So far as I can ascertain, the younger (William) Bartram, was 

 the first botanist who visited the southern portion of the Allegha- 

 ny Mountains. Under the auspices of Dr. Fothergill, to whom 

 his collections were principally sent, and with whom his then sur- 

 viving father had previously corresponded, Mr. Bartram left Phi- 

 ladelphia in 1773, and after travelling in Florida and the lower 

 part of Georgia for three years, he made a transient visit to the 



Vol. xLii.No. 1.— Oct.-Dec. 1841. 1 



