HISTORICAL SKETCH* 
12 
tal, Torrey, Elliot, Schweinitz, and my own ... 
now either deposited in public institutions, or 
accessible to all, Torrey and myself at any 
rate, are ever ready to communicate with Bo- 
tanists, answer enquiries, or solve difficulties. 
Botanical compilations are most useful when 
they include all the previous plants ; but our 
American Compilers are always deficient, be- 
cause they neglect through various motives to 
collect all the published information ; thus the 
plants of Bar tram, Lewis, Robin, Castiglione, 
Brickell, Bose <f»c with my own, have often been 
omitted. 
The best Herbals or Collections of our floras* 
are besides mine, those of Torrey in New York, 
Elliot in Charleston, Beck in Albany, Bigelow 
in Boston, Short in Lexington .... Those of 
Nuttal, Schweinitz, Baldwin, and Muhlenberg 
are preserved in Philadelphia, chiefly at the 
Academy of Natural Sciences. My friend Du- 
rand is now collecting here an extensive Amer- 
ican Herbal. That of Collins was very val- 
uable, and is now added to mine. Others less 
rich in species are scattered chiefly in Boston, 
New Haven, New York, Baltimore, Charleston, 
Columbia, Washington, New Orleans, Cincin- 
nati Sec. But some families of Plants are very 
rare in these Herbals, not being easily preserv- 
ed, such as Palms, Yucas, Cactides, Fungides. 
Few are aware how difficult it is to collect 
an extensive American Herbal with many rare 
plants ; those made in limited localities or gar- 
dens are easy enough to acquire ; and they are 
useful to students ; but Herbals of all the States 
and Regions for the learned, with notes, re- 
marks, compared foreign specimens . . . are ac- 
quired only by many years of travels and re- 
