Charles Wilkins Short And John Torrey Correspondence

Correspondence from Charles Wilkins Short to John Torrey, dated 1834-1859. Short's earlier letters are focused sharply on botany, sending lists of species and new and opinions of colleagues. The latter are usually complimentary, with one exception: "Is not Rafineque a madman! and have you honestly any confidence in him?" By the early 1850s Short is feeling his age-- "As to my poor self I feel that the gowing infirmities of age are rendering me every year more and more unable to do even what little I once did towards the humble labours of a collector of plants"-- and unable to go into the field, he turns his attention to supporting the work of others. His letters from the early 1850s are largely concerned with the support of the unfortunate German pharmacist-botanist Carl Bogenhard, and the ill-fated Carolina "expedition" of J.H. Lundgren. Even as he is clearing up the mess from the Lundgren affair, in the same letter Short asks, "Do you know of any laudable enterprize [sic], now on foot for the advancement of our favourite Science, in which I can lend a helping hand?" In his last letter, dated October 31,1859, Short looks back with some regret on his botanical career. "...I fear that my 'labours of love' in these matters have been of but little service or benefit to the Science, and have only been a source of private and personal gratification to myself," he muses. "But what more could have been expected from one, who in his earliest and best days was doomed to the drudgery of a laborious medical practice; and in his later and declining years is surrounded and encompassed by the cares and anxieties of a large family? I have six children and have lost four-- have had twenty-two grand children, five of whom are dead! Is it any wonder that I have done so little in the world of Science or Letters? Little or much, however, I beg you to be assured, my dear sir, that I shall ever entertain a most lively sense of the 'aid and comfort' which you have at all times rendered me, and that I am very cordially and gratefully yours..." Obsolete and unresolved plant names mentioned include Andromeda axillaris, Bellis integrifolia, Cardamine uniflora, Kuhnia, Planera, and Vesicaria.