The garden he planted eastward, in Eden, was the place selected for the residence of the man he had formed from the dust of the ground. In it was made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and among them the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This choice collection of plants, watered by a fourfold stream, was given into the custody of Adam, to dress and to keep, under certain directions and restrictions.

The disobedience of the first pair, in eating the fruit of the forbidden tree; the curse pronounced upon the ground in consequence thereof, with the woes of thorns and thistles, of being doomed to eat the herb of the field, of eating bread in the sweat of his face, and of returning, at last, to the dust whence he was taken, all point out the interesting connection between the history of plants and that of the human race. And when it is considered that God sent him forth from Paradise to till the land, the importance of his mission, in regard to the vegetable part of the creation, will be abundantly manifest.

It appears that Cain, the son of Adam, followed his father's calling, and was a tiller of the ground; and, also, that his descendants, for several generations, were engaged in the same occupation. This probably went on until Jabal, long after the death of the shepherd Abel, became the father of such as dwell in tents, and have cattle; and until Tubal Cain grew to be the instructer of every artificer in brass and iron.

The fact of the olive leaf plucked by the dove sent from the ark, during the subsidence of the waters of the deluge, leads to a belief that the whole vegetable tribes did not perish by that inundation. On the other hand, the declaration to the survivors of that catastrophe, that "every moving

thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have 1 given you all things," fairly warrants such a construction. And the two facts, taken in connection with the subsequent occupation of Noah as an husbandman, and the planter of a vineyard, give great strength to the opinion. The vegetable species are famous for having afforded materials for the most ancient fable on record. For when Abimeleck, by the exercise of indirect and sinister arts, was made king by the Shechemites, Jotham, the surviving brother of a slaughtered house, satirized the new sovereign and his adherents by the celebrated parable of the trees going forth to anoint a king, and not being able to procure the consent of the olive, the fig, and the vine, to rule over them, elected the bramble to the head of their government.

That prince of the Hebrews who is celebrated for the wisdom with which he surpassed all his cotemporaries and predecessors excelled in natural as well as civil knowledge. Solomon was a proficient in physics as well as in ethics. His maker had expanded his understanding, and enlarged his heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. The mouth that uttered three thousand proverbs, and a thousand and five songs, spake also of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; and some of the most elegant parts of his poetical compositions that have reached us, are derived from his acquaintance with the germination and inflorescence of plants. Thy plants," says the royal enthusiast, "are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits; camphire with spikenard; spikenard and saffron ; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, with all the chief spices." Again: "I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valley, and to see

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whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded." And also: "Lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth."

Further to evince the importance of vegetables, we have but to consider them in a moral point of view. The gourd that flourished and perished over the head of a repining prophet (Jonah, 3.) was made the means of administering to him a sharp and seasonable reproof. And the parables of the seed committed to the earth by the sower, (Matth. 13. Mark 4. Luke 8.) of the figtree that produced no fruit, (Luke 13.) and of the vine and its branches, (John 15.) were employed by him who spake as never man spoke, to inculcate the most sublime doctrines.

I forbear to mention to those whose memories are stored by classical imagery, the entertaining stories of the persecuted Daphne transformed into a laurel, of the self-enamoured Narcissus, into a flower, and of the weeping sisters of Phaeton, into poplars. The fascinating descriptions of them by Ovid are in every body's recollection or reach; and which of you can traverse the woods, enter the gardens, or walk the streets, without thinking of metamorphoses so strange.

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With this apology I approach the subject of my discourse, which is to give you a summary of the historical information extant, relative to the plants of the western hemisphere.

When the sons of Europe first visited these occidental climes, they beheld islands and a continent, covered with natural growth, resembling one continued forest. So many novel productions struck their sight, that they knew not what they saw. The luxuriance of the branches and foliage transcended every thing that had been presented to the eyes of these adventurers, while the singu

lar and inimitable beauty of their blossoms, their fruits, and their forms, had no parallel in the regions whence the voyagers came.

The picturesque scenes in the American mountains possess a grandeur and majesty unequalled on the face of the globe. The two summits of Peru, Chimboraço and Catopaxi, the highest elevations upon earth, exhibit an extraordinary spectacle. The eye is struck with the region of verdure, on which vegetables grow as high as the limit of ever-during frost and snow; and next, with the zone of ice which reaches upward to the points from which heated vapours, and, occasionally, volcanic flames proceed. Above these fiery outlets, the clear blue sky, as the cyanometer proves, appears purified from terrestrial exhalations. Amidst these objects the naturalist traces, with satisfaction, the different plants occupying their several stations on the mountain sides, according to their respective constitutions, and the corresponding altitude above the level of the ocean. And, by close examination, learns what vegetables offer themselves to his observation as he passes upward from the depths where the subterraneous and submarine species naturally dwell, through all the spaces to the climate where unrelenting cold never permits ice to melt. The stupendous elevation is such that if Vesuvius was placed upon the top of Mount Blanc, the two would not equal Chimboraço alone!

So when a traveller passes from the equator to the poles, plants adapted to the torrid, the temperate, and frigid zones, rise successively before him. Some of them minister to him the material for kindling and keeping fire; some with the means of preparing clothes and raiment; others with tools and implements, armour and weapons; others, again, with timber for houses, and the vari

ous other structures he may wish to raise. From others he derives food and sustenance. Some give him the means of annoyance and poison ; while yet others, by their colours, afford him ornament and finery; and, to render their history the more interesting, numberless animals live in, or derive their support, directly or indirectly, from plants.

The vegetable creation has, accordingly, attractted the curious regard, and excited the descriptive talents of many observers. But their performances lie scattered over a wide field. It shall be my humble office to gather them together, and array them distinctly before you. Though toil and fatigue may attend the search, I shall not be discouraged. Emboldened by the worthiness of the pursuit, by its connection with the honourable charater of my country, and, above all, by the fayour and indulgence of this learned society, I shall exhibit such a catalogue of writers and writings upon American botany, as will, I trust, satisfy the minds of those who honour me with a hearing, how copious is the theme; and render the researches of those who may follow me in this department of knowledge, familiar and easy,

Nevertheless, upon reflection, I almost shrink from my purpose. For I remember the ingenious and erudite oration of that gentleman (Rev. Dr. Miller) who urged the claims of Verazzano, to be the discoverer of New York early in the 16th century. The benefits of civil history, with critical observations and practical directions on the manner of writing it, have been ably discussed by a most worthy member, who is himself an historian, (Dr. Williamson.) It is impossible for me to forget the profound and instructive discourse of that member, (Mr. Clinton,) who drew such a true and lively picture of the aboriginal man. Nor can I