123 
ing Latin translations as he went along; for some unexplained 
reason, however, Wilkes required Brackenridge to demand the 
return of the manuscript in July, 1851, and subsequently it was 
placed in the hands of Dr. Asa Gray, who completed the prepara- 
tion of the work for the press. From his letter of December 7, 
1853, to Engelmann, one would suppose that Gray was responsi- 
ble for all that there is of value in Brackenridge’s masterpiece, 
but this is certainly far from true. Even the Latin translations 
were not all Gray’s work; unless, indeed, Torrey’s notes were not 
made available to him, and he was compelled to do all of his work 
without their assistance. 
Brackenridge’s report on ‘‘Filices, including Lycopodiaceae 
and Hydropterides,” constituting vol. 16 of the expedition series, 
after many vexatious delays, at last made its appearance. It 
was issued in two parts, a quarto volume of text, dated 1854, 
and a folio volume of plates, dated 1855. Early in 1856, a 
fire in Washington destroyed about one fifth of the sets of the 
government edition published up to that time, including the 
volumes dealing with ferns. It is not known exactly how many 
copies Brackenridge had printed for his own use; but it matters 
little, for at about the same time that the government supply 
Was so seriously reduced, his own was wiped out by a fire in Phila- 
delphia, after only ten copies had been sold, most of these to 
customers in Europe. It is no wonder then, as is well known, 
that the Brackenridge volumes are the scarcest in the Explor- 
ing Expedition set. The New York Public Library contains a 
copy of the text; but the folio atlas, with its 46 beautiful plates, 
seems to be even rarer, and was not to be found in any of the great 
libraries of New York City, until a copy was recently secured by 
purchase for the library of the New York Botanical Garden. 
In ‘the spring of 1855, Brackenridge purchased a tract of 30 
acres near Baltimore, Maryland, with buildings, and here he 
spent the remainder of his life. As nurseryman and landscape 
architect he took an important part in the development of many 
beautiful estates in the vicinity of Baltimore. For some years 
he was horticultural editor of the American Farmer but his 
one book was his only contribution of importance to botanical 
literature. His death occurred on the third of February, 1893. 
