geons in New York about the year 1820. He never liked the practice of medicine, and did not try very earnestly to become established in it, and we find him, in 1824, entering upon the duties of Professor of Chemistry at the United States Military Academy at West Point. We may here remark that Dr. Torrey's scientific life was twofold. While he is, perhaps, best known to the world as a botanist, it was as a chemist that he found his remunerative occupation. From the time of his acceptance of the chair at West Point, up to the day of his death, he was engaged either in teaching chemistry or in some position to which his profound chemical knowledge adapted him. In 1827 he was called to the chair of Chemistry in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which he occupied until 1854, and during a portion of this time he was also Professor of Chemistry at Princeton, where he was associated with Prof. Henry.
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. Before he had received his medical degree, Dr. Torrey became one of the founders of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, and was one of the eleven corporators named in the charter of that institution. Early in the history of the Lyceum he was elected president, an office which he filled for several years. 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." This was presented to the Lyceum in 1817, but was not published until 1819. This work, which consists of 100 pages, is now exceedingly rare, and chance copies offered at sales of libraries bring fabulous prices. 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. It gives us some idea of the astonishing growth of the city to read in this catalogue some of the author's favorite localities, such as "Love Lane," "Bogs near Greenwich," and
