Walter Rogers Johnson

“ We are aware that, in general, anticipations founded on an exhibition of precocious talents are apt to be signally disappointed; but when the display is that of an intellectual tendency, rather than a mere capacity for some one attainment, and when the spirit for mental labour is found capable of being directed into different channels at the instance of others, and does not consist of a blind instinct compelling the possessor to follow some narrow path of intellectual effort, the augury may, we apprehend, be received with less doubt and uncertainty. Such was the case with Schweinitz. ”

“ It has been remarked that our institution owes to members of his community, a greater portion of its valuable collections in different departments, than to any other equal number of individuals, and it is reasonable to suppose that his example, as a cultivator of science, has, in no small degree, determined the preference of those over whom he so long, and so beneficially, exercised an influence.
Such, may I repeat, was the life, and such the labours of our departed associate; a life which humanity may contemplate with a calm delight ”

“ For, if written either in German or in English, the two other languages with which he was, probably, the most familiar, they must have been sealed against a far greater number of those who are ever likely to seek instruction from their pages. A few inquisitive botanists are found in every quarter of the globe, and the medium of communication between them is the same as that of the whole scientific world was three centuries ago. It was to these that Schweinitz was obliged, from the nature of the case, to address himself, and to these he spoke in a language which they all, doubtless, understood. ”

“ In the multiplied relations with society he had contracted that ease of intercourse which tends so essentially to conciliate the kind affections.
Hence, though always listened to with profound respect when in the discharge of professional duties, whether as a teacher or a clergyman, yet the sphere of his greatest usefulness was the social circle, and the familiar intercourse which he maintained with the people of his own persuasion. ”

“ In the exchange of thought, the imparting of sympathy, and the expression of fraternal feeling, so habitually cherished by the class of society with which it was his fortune to be connected, and in the deep sense of responsibility under which he appears to have constantly acted, we find the immutable guarantees for that uprightness and the best explanation of that social influence which characterized our departed friend. ”

“ At a subsequent period, when treating of the fungi of America, Mr. Schweinitz was enabled to profit by the contemporary labours of those whom he is pleased to term the coryphæi of mycological science, such as Fries, Nees, Link and Kunz, and he then takes occasion to remark, that all the genera described by them are likewise found in America, and that indeed but few species are known in Europe, (except those parasitic fungi which belong to a matrix not here produced,) but what are equally the products of both continents. ”

“ But the obligation to respect, is felt with a double force by those whose pursuits are of a character congenial with that of the individual, who has thus made himself a pioneer in a laudable undertaking. And if to this common bond be added that of personal intercourse and intimacy, and a reception of great and lasting benefits from his labours and his liberality, it must be obvious that reason, feeling, and duty, alike demand the grateful remembrance of one who has so judiciously directed the current of his kindness and bestowed the fruits of his industry. ”

“ Schweinitz makes the interesting remark, that of all the American species of violet, thirty or more in number, not one has an identical counterpart in any European species; that not more than one of the latter appears to have become naturalized in America; and that while Europe possesses about twenty species of this interesting genus, America has, as above stated, already numbered thirty, and probably may yet add others from future exploration of her extensive northern regions. ”

“ Scarcely, it is believed, can a species of animals, whether they inhabit air, earth, or ocean;—whether they proudly soar or lowly creep, be found, unattended by those which occupy, in regard to them, a parasitic character.
It will be remembered that in one of the papers of our late lamented Say, the parasitic insect, which feeds upon the Hessian fly is described. The study of cryptogamic botany makes known innumerable examples of the same general fact, in regard to that great department of nature's works. ”

“ A widow, and four sons at an age most needing a parent's counsel, survive to mourn his loss.
Such, gentlemen of the Academy, is a very inadequate view of the life of your lamented associate; a life of various, constant, unobtrusive usefulness.
In person, Mr. Schweinitz was of the middle stature, of full and robust habits, a florid and healthful countenance. ”

“ Even persons who themselves never enter the same career, may still participate largely in the sentiment of gratitude for those efforts which have had in view, the improvement of society by additions to its treasures of knowledge. ”

“ And who shall venture to accuse this far-reaching and deep-searching propensity of the northern botanists? Certainly not one who has never entered beyond the outer gate of this chosen sanctuary of nature. ”

“ In this paper he describes twenty new species of American Spheriæ, respecting which he remarks, that very few, peculiar to America, spring directly from the soil, that is, from vegetable mould,—for none, in fact, spring solely from rocks, or their unvegetialized debris. Nearly all the fungi, peculiar to America, are parasitic, and this, considering the vast number of peculiar plants and trees of the higher orders, found in our country, may still account for the almost incredible multitude of fungous forms, belonging exclusively to this continent. ”

“ But to this preference he had, by birthright, a sort of hereditary, or derivative national title, since it is to German, Danish, and Swedish botanists [4] that we owe by far the greater part of our knowledge of that difficult department. In fact, German botany, like German metaphysics, appears to deem the obvious, every-day phenomena of a science, utterly unworthy of her regards. Phænogamous plants want the charm of an adequate mystery; things are too apparent to the senses; lie too much upon the surface; there is nothing of the spirit of adventure ”

“ It was remarked by the cynic of old, when a pampered mouse had perched himself on a corner of his table, awaiting the eleemosynary crumb which the habit of intimacy between the two individuals had taught him to expect, that even Diogenes, too, had his parasites. If it be true, that all men, however humble, have their appropriate adherents—how much more so, when we descend to the inferior orders of creation? ”

“ We are assured, by one who was at that period his pupil, that he "recollects the untiring research with which our departed friend, amidst the various arduous duties of his office, (that of tutor at Niesky,) pursued his favourite study, and the labour bestowed by his own hands on the coloured plates of the well known "Synopsis Fungorum." ”

“ A partial flora of Nazareth and its vicinity, formed at this early period, is still among his manuscript papers, and the occupation which its composition afforded to his moments of relaxation, continued through life to constitute the delight of his leisure hours. Such was his progress in manly attainments, that before the close of his connexion with the Nazareth institution, young Schweinitz was appointed to participate in the duties of instruction, by taking charge of some of the junior classes in that seminary. ”

“ They have, moreover, assiduously avoided superfluous repetitions of the names of classes, orders, genera, and species, and given a true synopsis of the department which they professed to treat. They have followed the steps of Persoon, sensible that though his method may be in some points defective, it is better not to depart from so able a guide; for, they remark, "it is well known how much easier it is to find fault with our neighbour's house than to build a better and more commodious one ourselves." ”

“ Thus, through the liberality of the deceased member whom we now commemorate, the donations which, in his life time, Mr. Collins had bestowed on the museum of our institution, are once more united to his other most important botanical treasure.
The examination and arrangement of these new plants constituted some of the last scientific labours of Mr. S. and he derived from the employment, such satisfaction as to make him, for a time, forget the bodily suffering and the mental depression under which his frame, at length, gave way. ”

“ One [5] inhabits only the decaying hoofs of horses and horns of oxen, while another [6] is no where to be met with, except on the bones and feathers from a particular species of raven. Among trees, the fir, the poplar, the oak and the birch, are peculiarly marked by the variety and abundance of these parasitic genera. ”

“ Hering, furnished those which adorn the fertile plains of Surinam, and Major Leconte, of the United States' army, placed in his hands an important collection of the plants of Georgia. Most of the existing botanists of our country had, also, manifested their esteem by transmitting to their respected fellow labourer, some of the fruits of their industry and research. But Mr. Schweinitz did not rely solely on correspondence and exchanges, for the augmentation of his herbarium. ”

“ Schweinitz published, at Raleigh, N. C. a pamphlet containing a description of seventy-eight species of Hepatic Mosses. This he produced as a mere specimen of the cryptogamic flora of North America, intended to excite a more general attention among our native botanists, to this undeservedly neglected branch of natural history. In the same year he sent to Professor Silliman's Journal his Monography of the genus Viola, a valuable paper, often cited by European naturalists. ”

“ Nuttall, [8] besides valuable contributions from our president, Mr. Maclure, and others, now embraces about 28,000 different species of plants; more than three-quarters of which are, as we have seen, due to the industry and liberality of a single individual.
The whole is now arranged [9] after the neat and judicious manner of Mr. Schweinitz, into scientific order, on a plan, to embrace the previous collection of the Academy, secured, as far as practicable, from the depradations of insects, and easy of access for the purposes of research and comparison. ”

“ It is probable that even the greater number of professed botanists are little attentive to the wide extension given by nature to the cryptogamic races. Fungi, as well as the other classes in this great division of her works, are spread over almost every sort of vegetable matter, whether in the dead or the living state. ”

“ From the commencement of his residence at this place, his botanical researches had been particularly directed to the Fungi, a department previously much neglected, and in 1805 the number of new genera and species discovered by himself and Albertini was so great as to warrant the publication of a volume of about four hundred pages, containing the result of their united efforts. As we shall again recur to this, in connexion with his other performances, it will not be necessary here to interrupt our remarks to present its peculiar merits as a scientific production. ”

“ In 1798 his father was called to Germany, whither he was attended by his family, and where the subject of this memoir, then a youth of eighteen, was in the same year established as a student in the theological institution at Niesky in upper Lusatia. Here, enjoying an intercourse with young men of decided and acknowledged talent, and entering on studies which excited a generous emulation, his faculties were roused to redoubled energy, and his application became proportionally intense. ”

“ His last published performance contains the names of 3098 species of North American fungi, of which more than 1200 are the fruits of Mr. Schweinitz' own labours, embracing, of course, the species previously described in bis paper on the Spheriæ, and those included in his Carolina synopsis. If to these, we add those plants described in his other performances, we have an aggregate of nearly 1400 new species added to the amount of botanical science, by the talents and industry of a single individual ”

“ The beautiful slopes and valleys about Bethlehem and Nazareth, the romantic banks of the Delaware, and the precipitous rocks of the Lehigh, all yielded up to him a tribute of their hitherto unexplored treasures. The high estimation set upon his works by men of science, had procured his election as an honorary member in several societies devoted to natural history, both in Europe and America. His correspondence increased, and the formation of his herbarium advanced with great rapidity.
In 1823 he was desired to examine and describe the plants collected by Mr. ”

“ Synopsis Fungorum Carolinæ superioris secundum observationes Ludovici Davidis de Schweinitz, Soc. Nat. Cur. Lips. Sodalis, etc.
Edita a D. F. Schwægrichen. E commentariis societatis naturæ curiosorum Lipsiensis excerpta.⁠ (No date.) 3. Specimen Floræ Americæ Septentrionalis Cryptogamicæ, sistens muscos hepaticos hucusque in Am. Sep. observatos, or
Specimen of a systematic arrangement and description of the cryptogamous plants of North America, comprising a diognostic description of all the hepatic mosses hitherto observed in North America, with ampler descriptions of a number of new species. ”