BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



naturalist and U. S. Senator, Dr. Samuel L. 

 Mitchill, was the first president. 



Nathaniel Paulding, the poet, and William 

 Cooper were the first secretaries of the in- 

 corporated society (1818), and Dr. John Tor- 

 rey, with others known to science, the first 

 curators. 



Mr. Cooper's tastes led him to collect mate- 

 rial in Natural History, chiefly for the Museum 

 of the Lyceum, and to contribute his aid to 

 older naturalists, who were investigating 

 special branches. 



Taking much interest in Botany, he was 

 the life-long friend of Dr. John Torrey, and 

 with a few companions helped him in gather- 

 ing the material for the " Plants found within 

 thirty miles around New York," and after- 

 wards for the "Compendium of the Flora of 

 the Northern and Middle States," which the 

 author, although his senior in years and scien- 

 tific experience, dedicated to Mr. Cooper "as 

 a testimony of respect for his attainments as 

 a naturalist, and as an expression of high 

 esteem for his virtues." 



The botanical field being already fully oc- 



