whole and that of the crystal-molecules or unit cells of the lattice may find expression in significant physical features, and therefore that both should be taken into account in the assignment of crystals to symmetry classes, even though it may at times be necessary to state two different classes for the same crystal.

BOTANY.—A sketch of botanical activity in the District of Columbia and vicinity.-I. P. L. RICKER, Bureau of Plant Industry.

It would perhaps be difficult if not impossible to say who started the first botanical work in the present District of Columbia which, as nearly virgin wilderness, much of it swamp land, was ceded to the United States Government by the State of Maryland in 1788. It would be much more difficult if we included the part in Virginia ceded to the United States in 1789 and the area in Maryland surrounding the District. The fact that Georgetown was settled late in the 17th century, although not formally laid out until 1751, and Alexandria at least as early as 1749, opens up a wide possibility.

Rev. John Banister was probably the first to do much active botanizing in Virginia, where he died about 1692. Ray (see bibliography) makes no definite reference to his collecting near the Potomac, although it is quite probable that he did some collecting within the range of this flora.

John Clayton came to Virginia in 1705. The list of his plants published by Gronovius in 1743 shows that he collected Betula nigra "a cataractis fluminis Potamoc," which might indicate any one of several points from Little Falls to Great Falls.

George Washington began making improvements at Mount Vernon soon after it came into his possession about 1759. It is possible that a careful examination of his voluminous correspondence and diaries at the Library of Congress, which time does not permit at present, might give more definite ideas as to his plantings, many of which were doubtless introduced from Europe. He did however plan for a Botanical Garden in the District. André Michaux, the French botanist, visited Washington at Mount Vernon, June 19, 1786, on his way to New

2

York where he had planned to start a Botanical Garden. There seems to be no evidence of his collecting specimens in the Potomac region at this time except that as he was on a mission from the King of France to collect seed for the Royal Botanical Garden at Paris it is not at all improbable that some specimens were collected here.

It seems likely that the first local American who had any accurate knowledge of the native plants and their names was Thomas Jefferson, and this knowledge is abundantly proven in his correspondence. He entered Washington's cabinet as Secretary of State in 1789, and although the seat of government was not moved from Philadelphia to the District of Columbia until June, 1800, he was doubtless here frequently on his way to Monticello. That his official duties here were no bar to his collecting plants is well shown by the request of one William Hamilton in 1808 for seed of one of the hollies. After three failures by local amateurs to secure the right seed, Jefferson was forced to do the collecting himself and obtained it at the first attempt.

In view of his well-known interest in plants, Jefferson, on the removal of the government to Washington, was immediately besieged by offers from gardeners to establish a botanical garden in the District. At the time he did not consider it the function of the government to do so. The plan was also opposed in Congress, where the idea of a botanical garden seemed to be an institution to furnish the District with cheap vegetables and flowers.

While none of the early nurserymen of the District gave any attention to the scientific aspect of their subject or of botany, yet, considering them botanists in a broad sense, they have contributed much to the practical side of the science. Thomas Main, a Scotch gardener, who settled at Georgetown about 1804, was probably the first nurseryman of the District. His attention was given almost entirely to raising grapes for wine.

1 Washington correspondence, Michaux to Washington, June 20, 1796, and Washington's diary of June 19, 1796.

2 This garden was eventually estalished at Charleston, S. C., by the son, François André Michaux, who came there in 1805.

3 Jefferson correspondence.

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz1 prepared the first list of District plants in 1804, the forthcoming publication of which was announced by him in 1805, but for some unknown reason it never appeared.

The first actually published list of District wild plants was given by David B. Warden3 in 1816. While there are numerous notes on introduced cultivated plants in this work by Warden the nine pages of local wild plant names relating to 130 species were furnished by José Francisco Correa da Serra Portuguese minister to Washington, but who resided most of the time at Philadelphia and succeeded Benjamin S. Barton as lecturer on botany at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1817 a sufficient number of residents of the District being interested in botany, a public notice of the intention of forming a Botanical Society was given, and on March 13, 1817, a meeting was held for this purpose at Davis's Tavern. Dr. John A. Brereton, an assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army, was called to the chair and John Underwood appointed Secretary. A committee of three, consisting of Rev. Dr. James Laurie, George Watterson, and Dr. Alexander McWilliams, was appointed to draw up a constitution for the Society, which was called the Botanical Society of Washington." The Society held meetings + FITZPATRICK, T. J. F. Rafinesque, a sketch of his life and bibliography. Des Moines, Iowa, 1911.

5 Warden, DAVID BAILLIE. A chorographical and statistical description of the District of Columbia. Paris, 1816. Dedicated to his friend Mrs. Custis. He had served as a U. S. consul in France.

6 José Francisco Correa de Serra, born at Serpa, Portugal, in 1750, assisted in founding the Portugese Academy of Sciences and was made perpetual secretary. He left Portugal for France in 1786 on account of political troubles and went to England in 1797 where he became secretary of the Portugese embassy. He came to New York in 1813 and received his appointment to Washington in 1816. He was called home in 1820 and elected to the Cortes. Baldwin's correspondence to Darlington in 1815 says that Philadelphia was much pleased with the lectures of Chev. Correa da Serra.

7 The records of this society were found by Mr. James Anglin, the predecessor of the present book firm of W. H. Lowdermilk & Co., among some secondhand books and presented to Prof. Lester F. Ward about 1881 or 1882. On the death of Professor Ward in 1913 his library was given to Brown University. The Trustees of that Institution granted a formal request for these records from the present Botanical Society of Washington. After a careful study of the records the writer was authorized by the Society to deposit them for safe keeping in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.

for a time every two weeks. The dues were five dollars a year, and to enforce attendance a fine of one dollar for regular meetings and fifty cents for special meetings was levied against members who did not attend and could not give a satisfactory excuse. The aims were, quoting from the constitution, "to collect, arrange, preserve and describe all the vegetable produc-· tions within the limits of the District to publish quarterly, if deemed necessary, whenever the Society shall have obtained a full knowledge of all the vegetable productions of the said District a Flora with colored plates. At one time every member attending was required to bring a plant. The thirteen charter members consisted of John Boyle, W. A. Bradley, Dr. John A. Brereton, Samuel Elliot, Jr., William Elliot, J. W. Hand, Dr. Henry Huntt, Major James Kearney, Rev. Dr. James Laurie, Dr. Alexander McWilliams, J. M. Moore, John Underwood, and George Watterson. During the, life of the Society six other members were elected and a seventh name is given on a committee, but there is no record of this person's election. These were, however, mostly expelled for nonattendance, and on May 6, 1822, Boyle, Brereton, Wm. Elliot, Kearney, McWilliams, and Underwood were the only remaining members. Jacob Bigelow of Boston, William Darlington of New Jersey, and William P. C. Barton of Philadelphia, prominent botanists of that time, were elected honorary members. After 1822 only one meeting a year was held until March 27, 1826, when the books belonging to the Society were ordered deposited in the Washington Library and Dr. McWilliams was authorized to take charge of the herbarium, after which the Society adjourned sine die. There is apparently no record of the ultimate disposition of the library and herbarium. The library contained at least 24 volumes listed in the Proceedings of the Society. We are informed by both the District Public Library and the Library of Congress that the copies of these works in their libraries bear no indication of ever having belonged to the Botanical Society of Washington. The plan of publication by the Society never materialized, but the Society did publish in 1819 a Florula Columbiensis of 14 pages, and listing 293 species. What was practically a second edition of this list was published

by William Elliot in 1822 in his Washington Guide. The list was furnished by Dr. Brereton and comprised 458 species, and the same list was repeated in editions appearing in 1826 and 1830; the 1837 edition had a few additions by William Rich.

One of the members of the Society, Dr. John A. Brereton, together with William Rich, also published between 1825 and 1830 three parts of the American Botanical Register with 24 colored plates, but these contain no reference to the District. William Rich was a brother of Obadiah Richs of Georgetown, who published in 1814 a synopsis of the genus of American plants which at that, time Muhlenberg considered to be an American edition of Persoon's "Genera." It is uncertain whether this referred to Persoon's Synopsis, 1805-1807, or his edition of Linnaeusa Systema Vegetabilium, 1797. Neither of these men belonged to the Botanical Society of Washington, but both were members of the Columbian Institute of Georgetown, organized in 1816, which was more directly interested in agriculture and horticulture. The Botanical Society of Washington was invited to join the Columbian Institute in November, 1817, and agreed, providing the Institute would so alter its constitution as to admit the Society to the Committee on Botany and Agriculture, but this request was apparently refused. Dr. Alexander McWilliams submitted a list of District plants to the Columbian Institute in 1826, but the list was not published. Following the dissolution of the Botanical Society of Washington in March, 1826, another organization known as the Botanical Club, according to Dr. Brereton's preface, was formed,

8 Obadiah Rich, born at Truro, Massachusetts, in 1783, was a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society at least from March 5, 1805, to January 30, 1810. Under date of April 16, 1812, William Bentley, of Salem, Massachusetts, wrote a letter introducing him to Thomas Jefferson. In 1815 he was appointed U. S. consul at Valencia, Spain. From this until 1827 most of his time was spent there and at Madrid, and in the latter year he tried to sell his valuable collection of books to the Library of Congress, but failing in this most of them went to the New York Public Library. He settled in London in 1828 and died there January 20, 1850. For this note I am indebted to Dr. J. H. Barnhart, of the New York Botanical Garden, and to Dr. R. H. True, of the Department of Agriculture.

For a history of this Institute see RICHARD RATHBUN in U. S. National Museum Bulletin 101: 1-85. 1917.