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erted such a remarkable influence upon the young men he gath- 

 ered about him that no student of the history of botany in this 

 city could fail to recognize in him a great pioneer. When a 

 handful of young enthusiasts gathered in 1 8 17 to organize the 

 Lyceum of Natural History, now the New York Academy of 

 Sciences, the only candidate considered for president was their 

 beloved professor, Dr. Mitchill, and he retained his interest in 

 the institution until his death. At various times Congressman. 

 Senator, and College Professor, his is a striking figure in the 

 history of natural science in this vicinity. ' 



A contemporary of Dr. Mitchill was Dr. David Hosack, a 

 New York boy, a graduate of Princeton, who pursued his 

 medical studies in Scotland and England, and while there 

 acquired a taste for botany, and received some training in that 

 science from William Curtis and Sir James E. Smith, the famous 

 English botanists. Soon after his return to New York he estab- 

 lished the first botanical garden in this city, a short distance 

 north of where the Grand Central Station now stands. A hun- 

 dred years ago this Elgin Botanic Garden was one of the show 

 places of the city; in 181 1 it was sold by Hosack to the State 

 of 'New York, and three years later was granted to Columbia 

 College. The grant did not require Columbia to maintain the 

 Garden as such, and it was soon diverted from its former uses ; 

 with the later marvellous rise in value of real estate in that 

 vicinity, it became the foundation of Columbia's prosperity. 



Among the founders of the Lyceum were several young men 

 particularly interested in botany, among them LeConte, Eddy, 

 Knevels, and Torrey. Of this number Dr. John Torrey became 

 most renowned in after years. His first important botanical 

 work was performed as a member of a committee appointed by 

 the Lyceum to prepare a flora of the region around New York 

 City. This report, prepared chiefly by Torrey, was afterward 

 published, and was the first of a long series of important works, 

 which won for Torrey universal recognition as the foremost 

 American botanist of his day. He was for many years a pro- 

 fessor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and died at the 

 age of ^6, universally beloved. 



