John Torrey

“ In 1854 the United States Assay-Office was established in New York, and Prof. Torrey was appointed assayer, a position of great responsibility, which he held at the time of his death. He was also consulting chemist to the Manhattan Gas Company, and was often engaged as adviser to establishments where chemical knowledge was required. In early life Prof. Torrey was an enthusiastic mineralogist, and the first and following volumes of Silliman's Journal contain important contributions made by him to this science. ”

“ We find quoted in this catalogue the names of those who were distinguished botanists half a century ago, the author acknowledging aid from Mitchell, Nuttall, Rafinesque, Eaton, Eddy, Le Conte, Cooper, and others. When we consider the youth of the author, barely twenty-one, we must regard this catalogue as a remarkable performance. Only those who have undertaken similar works can appreciate the amount of labor necessary to its production, and botanists who go over the same ground at the present day wonder at the completeness of this catalogue. ”

“ A devoted Christian, he never obtruded his Christianity, but let it appear in his every relation in life. Belonging to a denomination that is by some considered exceedingly strict, he was most charitable for the opinions of those who believed differently ”

“ In the first number of the Annals we find a botanical paper from him, and the earlier volumes of this publication are enriched by some of his most important contributions to science.
The botanical career of Prof. Torrey commenced while he was yet a student of medicine. His first botanical publication was "A Catalogue of Plants growing spontaneously within Thirty Miles of the City of New York." ”

“ At an early day the author foresaw that the Linnæan system must be superseded by the natural system of Jussieu. This consideration, together with the loss of a large part of the first volume, led him to abandon the work. In order to supply the immediate wants of students, he prepared a compendium, which gave brief descriptions of the plants contained in the first volume of the Flora and of those which would have been included in the second volume. ”

“ It contains over 500 pages, and includes the first twelve classes of the Limuean system, the species being described with a clearness and minuteness and the synonymy elaborated with a care not heretofore displayed in any work upon American botany. It was the first work in which our Northern grasses were treated in a thorough manner, and students of the Graminaceœ at the present day find this a most useful work of reference. ”