\'0L. 43 T O R R E Y A July 1943 



Contributions of the Torrey Botanical Club to the Development of 

 p Taxonomy* 



H. A. Gleasox 



Travel back in your mind to 1867. Andrew Johnson occupies the \\'hite 

 House at Washington. Carpet-baggers are rampant in the South. Boss Tweed 

 has his thumb on the city of New York. ]\Iilhons of buffalo graze the plains 

 of Kansas. The first transcontinental railway has not been completed. 



And what of science in this country? Botany is still regarded as a proper 

 subject of study in a ladies' seminary. Of plant physiology there is none, 

 although a young Alaine ph^-sician, George Goodale, may be musing on the 

 subject. Of plant pathology there is none, although a country school teacher, 

 Charles Peck, a storekeeper, Benjamin Everhart, and a farmer, Job ElHs, are 

 actively collecting fungi, and a young medical student, \Mlliam Farlow, is 

 beginning an interest in the subject. Of genetics there is none, although there 

 is a great deal of talk about a recent book called the Origin of Species. Xo 

 ordinary college student has yet peeked through a microscope as a part of 

 his regular classwork, but a sophomore at ^Michigan Agricultural College, 

 Charles Bessey, is wishing that he could and a few years later gave the oppor- 

 tunity to his own students. 



In taxonomy conditions are very different. Three distinguished botanists 

 stand out above all the rest for their taxonomic research. Gray of Cambridge, 

 Torrey of Xew York, and Engelmann of St. Louis, although measured by 

 influence on the teaching and stud}- of botany and consequentl}' b}- their inspira- 

 tion of another generation, Torrey and Gray must divide their honors with 

 another Xew York man, Alphonso Wood. The plants of the eastern states are 

 already thoroughly known and no one gives much attention to this region. 

 In the south Chapman is still discovering undescribed species, and in the 

 unsettled and largely uncivilized west several adventurous botanists are sending 

 east large quantities of new material to Gray, Torrey and Engelmann. 



In X'ew York, Professor Torrey was the only research botanist, but there 

 were several young folks who were interested in plants, who liked to tramo 

 over the hills, along the beaches, or through the pine barrens. These young 

 folks met with Professor Torrey, exhibited their botanical treasures, recounted 

 the adventures of their trips, and rejoiced together over the collection of 

 some uncommon species. Torrey did not encourage them to work for a doctor's 

 degree or require them to register for formal courses in botany. He did not 

 advise them to explore the jungles of the tropics, where new species could 



* Read at the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Torrey Botanical Club at The Xew 

 York Botanical Garden, Tuesday, June 23. 1942. 



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