THE BRYOLOGIST 
Vol. XII September 1909 No. 5 
LEO LESQUEREUX 1806-1889. 
Annie Morrill Smith. 
For a number of years we have been trying to obtain data for a reasona- 
bly full account of the life and work of Leo Lesquereux, but the material on 
which to base such a sketch seems most difficult to obtain. There is an 
interesting article in The Popular Science Monthly, for April, 1887, Vol. 30, 
No. 6, by L. R. McCabe, which is a report of a personal visit to Dr. 
Lesquereux in his home, at Columbus, Ohio, made not so long before 
his death which took place on October 25, 1889. One reason why the 
botanical journals of the time failed to record his death is that for so many 
years his time had been given exclusively to Paleobotany and hence the 
omission by botanists to notice his passing. The following is based on 
McCabe’s article, 
Charles Leo Lesquereux was born at Fleurier, Neufchatel, Switzerland, 
November 18, 1806. His immediate ancestors were French Huguenots. His 
father was a manufacturer of watch springs and wished his son to follow the 
same trade, but his mother favored the ministry as her son’s health was deli- 
cate. The love of nature was already deep in his heart and circumstances 
later determined his preference for another persuit. After finishing his 
studies at the Academy of Neufchatel he went to Weimer. Here he met 
the lady who later became his wife, and brought her back to live at Fleurier, 
where he began the study of mosses and later of fossil botany. It was at 
this period that he became interested in peat, its formation, and possible 
reproduction. The protection of the peat-bogs, the principal fuel of Switz- 
erland, was then a matter of great importance to the government. 
Lesquereux published some memoirs of his investigations, and these 
attracted the attention of Agassiz, then occupying the chair of Natural 
History in the Academy of Neufchatel. He invited the author to visit him 
for a consultation on the theories set forth, and thus a friendship was started 
which ended only with Agassiz’s death. Later a prize was offered by the- 
government for the best popular treatise on the formation and reproduction 
of peat, and the memoir by Lesquereux won the gold metal and gained wide 
j-eputation for the author, and it is still quoted as one of the best authorities, 
on the subject. The author subsequently explored the peat-bogs of north- 
ern Europe becoming master of the botany, physics, chemistry, and geology 
of those districts, and was led to think that the theory he had formulated might: 
be applied to the coal seams of our country. To the New World he now- 
transferred his labors, coming in 1848, when having become totally deaf, in 
the prime of life, he also found himself deprived of scientific employment at 
home in consequence of the political changes following the revolution. 
The July BRYOLOGIST was issued July 1, 1909. 
