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23 
which occurred July 31, 1848, the preface of the work 
having been written July 26, only five days previous. 
Mr. Oakes was impulsive and generous; thoroughly in 
earnest in his favorite study, he seriously impaired his 
fortune to carry out his schemes more perfectly. Like 
many other menof note, he was hardly appreciated while 
living, but no monument which could have been erected 
would have made his memory more cherished or his worth 
more appreciated by the present generation of botanists 
_ than that which he left behind,— an extensive collection 
of most beautifully prepared botanical specimens, with an 
identification absolutely correct, besides many valuable 
notes and observations. Prof. Tuckerman dedicated to 
him a pretty little plant common in the region of Plymouth, 
but it afterwards had to be transferred to another genus ; 
and now for the first time in any flora, it becomes a pleasant 
duty to give by its name, “Oakesia,” the little bellwort, a 
common Essex County plant, which Prof. Watson of 
Cambridge has found necessary to separate from the 
genus to which it has heretofore been referred in his re- 
vision of the family Liliacez, and has feelingly dedicated 
to the memory of William Oakes. 
Dr. Charles Pickering, son .of Timothy and Lurena 
(Cole) Pickering and grandson of Col. Timothy Pickering 
of revolutionary fame, was born at Starucca Creek on the 
Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, in 1805. He was educated 
at Harvard in the class of 1823, graduating at the medical 
school in 1826. In 1838 he was appointed naturalist to 
the U.S. (Wilkes) Exploring Expedition ; and to perfect 
his knowledge of animals and plants in foreign parts, he 
made very extensive journeys after his return from that 
expedition. He was the author of several works of great 
value which in their preparation required much untiring 
research; among them are “Geographical distribution of 
