and his work about St. Louis seems to have been simply a continuation along similar lines to that already done in Europe. Although he lived in St. Louis and in later years in East St. Louis, he seems to have been somewhat of a hermit, and was not understood, or even comparatively well known, by his neighbors. He seems to have been an enthusiast upon botany, and his botanical collection was apparently his one luxury and hobby.
Heinrich Karl Daniel Eggert[1] was born March 3, 1841, in the town of Osterwieck, Prussia. He was educated at a seminary in Halberstadt, and became a teacher in the public schools of the neighboring
Fig. 18. The Eggert House in East St. Louis, Illinois; practically as it was at the time of the death of Henry Eggert.
city of Magdeburg. He early became interested in the study of plants, and before leaving Europe he had made botanical collections in the Harz Mountains and on short journeys to Kreuznach and in Bohemia. Dissatisfied with the small salary of a German school teacher, Eggert came to America in 1873, and for a few months worked on a farm in southern New York. From New York he went to St. Louis, where he remained for a number of years and then removed across the river to East St. Louis, where he lived the rest of his lifetime.
The first work which he seems to have taken up in St. Louis was that of carrying papers for the local press. He carried papers for about twenty years, handling both a morning and an evening one. He worked early and late, never sparing himself and always living by himself in a secluded manner. Comparatively few persons ever saw the in-
- ↑ Sargent, C. S., "Silva of North America," 13: 51-52, 1902.
