6 



These accomplishments proved him the great master that he was, 

 and soon his hands were crowded with important work, especially 

 connected with the active explorations of our western territory 

 then in progress. In this work he was a close associate of Asa 

 Gray, and probably their most important work was tne first parts 

 of their Flora of North America, published from 1838 to 1843. 

 Many men whose work has thus branched out from local into 

 general lines have allowed the latter to supplant and replace the 

 former, but this was not true of Torrey, who combined in rare de- 

 gree generic and specific powers. Not only were his interest and 

 activity in local work undiminished, but they grew apace, and 

 his patient and quiet enthusiasm gathered about him a group of 

 associates who not only were devoted to him personally, but 

 imitated and emulated his work. In this saying is stated the 

 immediate origin of the Torrey Botanical Club. At various 

 points in the history of our Club, we have been reminded that 

 •'a nation has arisen that knew not Joseph," and various pro- 

 posals have been made for changing the name of the society. 

 Let us record now the opinion that the selection of Torrey's 

 name for this purpose was so just, natural and appropriate that 

 its retention amounts to a historical necessity. 



Except for the published works of Torrey, most of those of 

 this early period which here concern us were of a somewhat gen- 

 eral nature, but naturally including our local interests. Of these 

 may be mentioned the following : In 1813, Muhlenberg's Cata- 

 logue of North American Plants, and in 18 17 his work on North 

 American grasses and sedges; in 1818, Nuttall's most scholarly 

 work on the genera of North American plants ; in 1820, Gray's 

 Genera; in 1822, Schweinitz's Monograph of the Genus Viola ; 

 in 1833, Beck's Botany of the Northern and Middle States ; in 

 1834, Schweinitz's work on North American Fungi, and in the 

 same year, Gray's Monograph of the NortJi American Species of 

 Rliynchospora. In the meantime, very important works of a 

 similar character were being produced in the South, and to a 

 lesser extent, in the West. 



These publications, it will be observed, were chiefly of interest 

 to those actively engaged in original work, and not to young 



