108 



which were not, and could not be consulted. Botanical instruc- 

 tion was most meager, and was merely a part of the general 

 course in biology. There was not, in fact, a department of 

 botany, the subject being treated as a subordinate of geology, under 

 Professor John S. Newberry. From 1875 to 1879, Dr. Britton 

 was a student at the School of Mines, and was strongly attracted, 

 by natural taste and ability, toward the botanical side of his work. 

 When upon his graduation he was appointed assistant to Dr. New- 

 berry, he appreciated clearly the great value of the materials for a 

 botanical department, to be organized on a new and modern basis, 

 which were in the possession of the College, and he began a 

 careful and systematic examination of them. In speaking of this 

 exceedingly important ev^ent in the general, as well as in the 

 botanical, history of New York, your speaker takes the keenest 

 delight, as he was for most of the time one of the closest associ- 

 ates of Dr. Britton, and can speak of that which he not only saw, 

 but which he watched with appreciative interest. 



A special stimulus to Dr. Britton at this time was his inter- 

 est in his first great botanical undertaking, the preparation of 

 an elaborate catalogue of the plants of New Jersey, this also, 

 being performed subordinately to a department of geology. In 

 this undertaking, an intimate association with the members of 

 our Club and an active participation in its work were prime 

 essentials to success, an illustration of the way in which existing 

 forces worked together in carrying forward our natural botanical 

 development. Another potent influence of a similar nature 

 should be here recorded. At this time considerable botanical 

 material from distant parts of this country and from other 

 hitherto unexplored regions was coming to this city for original 

 study, and this made it imperative that Columbia's botanical 

 house should be set in order in the interest of comparative 

 work. With the knowledge and encouragement of Dr. New- 

 berry, but with comparatively little on the part of others con- 

 cerned in the management of the college. Dr. Britton carried on 

 this work in the interim of his official duties, until at length a 

 great working herbarium existed where before there was chaos. 

 At the same time the botanical instruction was beine extended 



