20 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 
English, German, French and Latin languages. Unlike 
most persons of German descent, but in common with 
Pope, Scott, and some other eminent men, he was en¬ 
tirely insensible to the charms of music ; yet as we have 
seen, this circumstance did not involve him in the cel¬ 
ebrated category of Shakespeare ; for though no music , 
he surely had abundance of harmony in his soul. 
Our sketch of the scientific labours of the deceased, 
must necessarily be confined to some leading points in 
the general character of his more important works, and 
a brief account of his collections. 
When we consider the extreme difficulty of the par¬ 
ticular departments of Botany to which Mr. Schwei- 
nitz devoted his chief attention, the prodigious number 
of facts which he has accumulated, the vast amount of 
minute and delicate investigation demanded by the na¬ 
ture of the objects of his study, the labour of preparing 
for the press the materials which he had brought to¬ 
gether ; when we recollect, that, with the exception 
of Dr. Muhlenburg of Lancaster, no American botanist 
had ventured far upon this wide and unexplored domi¬ 
nion of nature ; and when we remember that this science 
was his relaxation, not his profession ; his occasional 
pursuit, not his daily duty, we are forcibly struck with 
the high order of his talents for the pursuit of physical 
science, and cannot but regret that more of his time 
and energies could not have been devoted to this fa¬ 
vourite occupation. 
The botanical works of Mr. Schweinitz indicate, not 
only great industry and perseverance in the collection 
