many of the collections were destroyed because they were not deemed of as much value as other things which were on board.
After his return to his native city Prince Maximilian worked over his collections and other material with the aid of a number of experts, and published several papers upon his results. In 1843 he published his "Systematic View of Plants Collected on a Tour on the Missouri River." His collections are preserved in the museum of his native city, where he died in 1867.
Martius honored him by naming a genus of Brazilian and West Indian palms, Maximiliana, thus very appropriately connecting him with the botany of that country, of which he was one of the pioneer explorers.
Hardly had Prince Maximilian started for home before another explorer was at work on the Missouri. This person was none other than Thomas Nuttall, the greatest botanist of this country in his time. As has been already mentioned, he had visited this section in company with John Bradbury in 1811.
Thomas Nuttall[1] was born in the town of Settle, England, in the year 1786. His parents were in very moderate circumstances, and the boy was early apprenticed to a printer. After several years he had a disagreement with his employer and went to London seeking for work. Here he came very near total destitution. When about twenty-two years of age he emigrated to America, landing in Philadelphia. During his youth he so improved his spare moments that he acquired an intimate knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, and he seems to have studied other branches, as he was described at the time of his landing as "a well-informed young man, knowing the history of his country, and somewhat familiar with some branches of natural history, and even with Latin and Greek." Nuttall knew nothing of botany at this time, but very soon after he became interested in the "amiable science," and also began an acquaintance with Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton. His studies of plants naturally led him into making short excursions which soon lengthened as his interest deepened, until he had visited the lower part of the Delaware peninsula and the coast region of Virginia and North Carolina.
At about this time Nuttall became acquainted with John Bradbury, and he eagerly proposed to accompany him on his trip up the Missouri River. Accordingly, Nuttall joined Bradbury at St. Louis, and early
- ↑ Short, C. W., Transylvania Jour, of Med., etc., 34: 14-16, 1836.
Meehan, Thos., Gardeners' Monthly, 2: 21-23, 1863.
Durand, Elias, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 7: 297-315, 1860.
Sargent, C. S., "Silva of North America," 2: 34, 1891.
Britten, Jas., and Boulger, G. S., "Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists," 129, 1893.
Anonymous, Pop. Sci. Monthly, 46: 689-696, 1895.
Harshberger, J. W., "Botanists of Philadelphia," 151-159, 1899.
