JOHN TORREY 1 39 



One is, perforce, at this time a little sorry for 

 our botanist. He wanted so much to embark on 

 a grand undertaking — a general Flora of the 

 United States; but leisure was scanty. He had 

 taken a professorship of natural science at 

 Princeton; and an appointment came just then 

 as State Botanist to a geological survey of New 

 York, which could hardly be refused. It meant 

 much hard labor but in 1843, after a great deal 

 of discouragement, the result was his largest 

 work : A Flora of the State of New York, in two 

 large quarto volumes, with 161 plates. 

 . But the other book was not forgotten. He 

 asked his old pupil, Asa Gray, to become his asso- 

 ciate. So the pupil stepped up nearer the mas- 

 ter and put all his heart into the work, the two 

 together making marvellous advances; and in 

 July-October, 1838, half the first volume was 

 ready. The next year Gray went to Europe to 

 study the sources and originals of earlier estab- 

 lished species, and the latter half of the volume 

 was out by June, 1840. The second volume was 

 completed in 1843. 



If we add to all this the Botanical Reports of 

 the various land-exploring expeditions written 

 from 1822 to 1858, the amount of work done is 

 seen to be astonishing, all being accomplished in 

 the intervals of an overcrowded professional life. 

 When in 1857, he " exchanged a portion, and, a 



