Dr.  Barton  was  distinguished  by  his  talents  and  professional
attainments.  He  contributed  much  to  the  progress  of  natural
science,  and  his  various  works  evince  a  closeness  of  observation,  an
extent  of  learning,  and  a  comprehensiveness  of  mind,  honorable  to
his  character.  He  was  the  first  American  who  gave  to  his  country
an  elementary  work  on  botany.  His  publications  are  the  follow-
ing: On  the  Fascinating  Quality  ascribed  to  the  Rattlesnake,
1796;  New  Views  of  the  Origin  of  the  Tribes  of  America,  1797;
Collections  towards  a  Materia  Medica  of  the  United  States,  1798;
Remarks  on  the  Speech  attributed  by  Jefferson  to  Logan,  1798;
Medical  Physical  Journal,  begun  1804,  continued  several  years;
Eulogy  on  Dr.  Priestley ;  Elements  of  Botany,  with  eighty  plates,
1804 — also  in  two  volumes,  forty  plates,  1812;  Flora  Virginica,
1812;  an  edition  of  Ctillen's  Materia  Medica,  1808;  Account  of
the  Syren  Lacertina;  Observations  on  the  Opossum,  1813;  Collec-
tions on  Extinct  Animals,  &c.,  1814;  Fragments  of  the  Natural
History  of  Pennsylvania ;  Remedy  for  the  Bite  of  a  Rattlesnake  ;
On  the  Honey  Bee ;  On  the  Native  Country  of  the  Potato ;  and
other  papers  in  the  American  Philosophical  Transactions.
JOHN  BARTRAM.
JOHN  BARTRAM  was  a  most  accurate  observer  of  nature,  and  one
of  the  first  botanists  this  country  ever  produced;  a  self-taught
genius,  whom  Linnaeus  called  "  the  greatest  natural  botanist  in  the
world."  He  seated  himself  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuvikill,  below

J

Gray's  Ferry,  where  he  built  a  comfortable  stone  house,  and  formed
his  botanic  garden,  in  which  there  still  remain  some  of  the  most


32  EMINENT    PHILADELPHIANS.
