354 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



as well as the color of flowers and the uses of fruits, seeds, herbs and 

 roots, together with the virtues attributed to them by the simple natives, 

 no matter how foolish such information might appear to the eyes of 

 the learned. 



And now, as his busy life is nearing its close, enfeebled by hardships 

 and almost incessant physical suffering, he sits close to the fire with his 

 great coat around him. His last set of plants has been disposed of. 

 Is his task finished? He can not bear to think so. He had planned 

 to do so much more. As he closes his eyes he has visions of palm trees 

 reflecting their crests in the still lagoon; or perhaps he hears the 

 tinkling of bells as flocks of goats wander across the sunny plain and 

 climb rocky hillsides dotted with cactus, maguey and yuccas ; or perhaps 

 he is once more among pines and oaks on a mountain top, or in moist 

 forests gathering orchids and creeping arums. His old enthusiasm 

 comes back; his pulse throbs with renewed vigor. No, the end is not 

 yet. Once more he prepares his pack; his staff stands in the corner. 

 He unfolds the map. To-morrow he will start off, but to what fresh 

 field he can not yet decide. 



It has been impossible within the limits of this paper to do more 

 than enumerate many of the localities explored by Dr. Palmer. To 

 give a detailed account of his work would fill hundreds of pages. Every 

 student of North American botany can bear witness to its value. We 

 have already heard the testimony of the distinguished botanists, Pro- 

 fessor Gray and Dr. Torrey, given in the early part of his career. He 

 has added hundreds of species to science and many more of his collect- 

 ing remain to be described. Scarcely a monograph of a family or genus 

 appears, including representatives in Mexico and the southwestern 

 United States, but among the species described are new ones based upon 

 types collected by Edward Palmer. My list thus far reaches 1,162 new 

 species of flowering plants discovered by him, but I am sure that this 

 does not include all. The composites lead with 259 species. It is not 

 possible to tell definitely how many well-established species bear his 

 name. I have counted 200. It is pleasant to think they will continue to 

 bear his name for centuries to come, eternal witnesses to his wonderful 

 activity, forming a monument more lasting than sculptured marble, re- 

 cording the services he has rendered to science and his fellow men. And 

 in all the years to come no history of American botany will be complete 

 without an account of the work of Edward Palmer. 



