REPORT. 



To the Legislature of the State of JYew York, 



The Regents of the University Respectfully Report : 



The contents of the Cabinet are, in general, in excellent con- 

 dition. The additions to them during the past year by purchase 

 and by gift, including a few which were casually omitted in the 

 last report, are set forth in an accompanying schedule. 



The Curator has collected and added to the Pal^ontological 

 department, a number of valuable fossils from the Silurian form- 

 ation, and from the upper and lower Helderberg rocks. 



Dr. Torrey's Flora of the State was published as a portion of 

 the Natural History of the State, in 1843. In it he described 

 1449 Phcenogamous and fifty-nine Cryptogamous plants, con- 

 sisting of Equisetaceae, Ferns, Lycopods, and Hydropterides. 

 In 1853, he made the Catalogue of these plants, adding thereto 

 twenty-nine subsequently discovered Phccnogamor.s plants. From 

 this Catalogue, at least eight. of the Phsenogamia should be de- 

 ducted for species admitted into the Flora upon mistaken in- 

 formation, and for varieties then regarded as species; and one 

 cf the Cryptogamia, the Salvinia natans, attributed to the State 

 bv Pursh, has not been found in the United States since his 

 time. In 1853, the species known to be spontaneous in the State 

 were fourteen hundred and seventy Pha3nogamous, and fifty- 

 eight Cryptogamous ones, exclusive of the Fungi, mosses, &c. 

 But a large number of species not included in the Catalogue of 

 1853, have been found growing spontaneously within the State, and 

 there is every reason to believe that faithful examinations, espe- 

 cially of Long Island, the southern tier of counties, and the 

 northeastern portion of the State, will add largely to our Flora. 



In preparing the Herbarium, which was designed to be a full 

 exponent of the State Flora, Dr. Torrey was unable to procure 

 specimens of some of the plants included in it. These deficien- 

 cies are noted in the Catalogue of 1853, and in the main continue 

 unsupplied. The Herbarium has sfightly suffered by time and 



