CHARLES WILKINS SHORT 131 



Short's chief usefulness in the botanical field 

 was mainly owing to the great extent and the 

 particular excellence of his personal collections ; 

 also to the generous profusion with which he dis- 

 tributed them, far and wide, among his fellow- 

 laborers in this and other lands. He and Mr. 

 Oakes — the one in the West and the other in the 

 East, but independently — were the first in this 

 country to prepare, on an ample scale, dried 

 specimens of uniform and superlative excel- 

 lence, and in lavish abundance, for the purpose 

 of supplying all who needed them. 



He soon got into touch with scientific men 

 everywhere by exchanging specimens. This gave 

 him reputation, and led eventually to an invita- 

 tion, which he accepted, to become professor of 

 natural medicine and medical botany in Transyl- 

 vania University, where Benjamin W. Dudley 

 and Daniel Drake were his colleagues. Short's 

 heart was thoroughly in his work, and he stayed 

 there until internal dissensions in 1837 made 

 him and Drake accept the same professorships 

 in the University of Louisville. 



Twelve years there as teacher made Short 

 crave more time for private work; so, in 1849, 

 " he retired to Hayfield," five miles out of Louis- 

 ville, and " enjoyed an elegant leisure " in his 

 herbarium, helped by his daughters; but he 

 planned and financially helped several distant 



