I02 SOME AMERICAN MEDICAL BOTANISTS 



and Philosophical Register (1810), all owed 

 much to him; the Journal was run by Hosack 

 and the genial, witty Dr. John Francis. He also 

 founded the Humane Society — one branch for 

 the recovery of persons nearly drowned and 

 another for the relief of the indigent poor; the 

 City Dispensary was remodelled; and he insti- 

 tuted medical lectures to policemen. 



As a little play he set to work arranging and 

 augmenting a cabinet of minerals he had brought 

 from Edinburgh — possibly the first collection 

 brought over. He eventually gave this to Prince- 

 ton, where it was displayed in a special room and 

 supplemented by the gift of a fine lot of works 

 on mineralogy. 



Hosack felt that after fifty years of practice 

 he was justified in retiring to his pretty country 

 home at Hyde Park, Dutchess County. He had 

 married his third wife, Magdalena, widow of 

 Henry A. Coster, and with her kept up a good, 

 old-fashioned hospitality, welcoming, alike, 

 famous men and shy ambitious students. Three 

 times, in spite of his busy life and large family, 

 he adopted into his household and trained a poor 

 but clever young man, one of them being Delile, 

 who became superintendent of the Jardin des 

 Plantes, Montpellier. 



His son, Dr. Alexander Hosack, tells of the 

 fruit and flower gardens, the conservatories. 



