CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE SPECIES QUESTION 251 
fully convinced as the above mentioned and other comparisons 
have convinced me, of the absolute stagnation of botany in the 
Eastern and Middle States during the forty years and more of 
this author's unbroken rule and acknowledged sovereignty. 
One of the interesting points, as to the condition of botany 
during those long years, is that in certain genera there was even 
a reduction of the number of species, and this despite the circum- 
stance that the territory covered by the manual had been notably 
increased. And if Eupatorium and Solidago show a slight increase, ' 
this is solely because certain southern states—the South is rich 
in species of this genera—had been annexed to the manual area. 
Now it was not at all held as a secret by the author of this . 
series of manuals that the copyright on them was about his best 
source of income. I myself have heard him say it. It also appears 
that in this first edition of the work, the one which he had hoped 
could be made a good one within the limits of 350 pages, but which 
grew to pages 696—in the preparing of it, I say it appears that 
he had been most unsparing of the published species of his.most 
eminent predecessors and contemporaries. I doubt not he may 
be found to have suppressed in the aggregate some hundreds: 
E of the species of Michaux, Pursh, Nuttall, Rafinesque, Muhlenberg, - 
| Eaton, Dewey, and almost all those of his Bostonian neighbor, 
Jacob Bigelow, than whom in my judgment, no one then living 
in New England had better yu abilities as a botanist. And 
this reckless overruling of his contemporaries—many of whom 
had field knowledge of northern botany to which he never attained 
or even aspired—this dogmatic suppression of others' works, 
supported by that well deserved prestige which his Flora of North 
America had gained for him, together with that influence which 
high professional station exerts over the whole multitude of 
amateurs and aspirants—all these conditions together Drought 
about the period of botanical stagnation which is now well recog- 
pued as having existed during long years. 
The dormant period of Md American botany had been brought 
to an end some years before the appearing of the very latest 
. edition of Gray’s Manual; and a s the author of the first edition 
Sixty years before, as prospective bibliopole, had found himself 
. confronted by the species question, so, and also under pressure of 
. bibliopole considerations, did the editorship of the newest edition 
uem ie face to face with the same difficulty, and that in an ex- 
