DURING THE LAST HALF CENTURY. 127 



Dr. Pickering, in 1838, joined the Wilkes Exploring Ex- 

 pedition, of which he had been appointed the naturalist, 

 and from that time until his death in 1881, his entire lifo 

 was devoted to important works on zoology and botany. 



We thus find in 1834, at the time of the foundation of 

 the Essex County Natural History Society, a strong 

 impetus had been given to the study of botany, beginning 

 at Cutler's time and continuing directly to this date, 

 through those who had been the disciples of Cutler him- 

 self, and that, developed at the same time, through 

 a different Channel, however, Bigelow's Botany had 

 reached its second and enlarged condition. 



For the systematic student, therefore, the path was made 

 easy. In the departments of vegetable physiology the 

 works of tlie older authors were accessible to those who 

 could cope with the Latin, in which language they were 

 chiefly written. Sprengel, the forerunner of Darwin, 

 had, forty years before, published his work on the fertili- 

 zation of flowers, which, however, was but little known ; 

 Andrew Knight had followedin 1800 ; Hale's experiments 

 with the sunflowers were published and pictured, and the 

 Jussieus, Schacht and Schieiden had swelled the writings 

 on these and kindred subjects. 



It is not to be wondered, therefore, at the first meet- 

 ings of the new society, and later at those of the Essex 

 Institute, that the subject of botany should have absorbed 

 a large share of the time in its consideration, and that 

 horticulture, its close kin, should develop in our midst 

 even to becoming the mainstay of the Institute in its early 

 and less prosperous days by furnishing the attraction to 

 its rooms for the outside public, and through the proceeds 

 of the regularly conducted exhibitions replenish the often 

 scanty exchequer. 



But even with the advantages these men thought they 



