lake requires, according to the Indians, four days, although, on account of the rapids, it requires ten days to return."

Michaux reached Lake Mistassini on the 4th of September, and, after paddling along it for ten or twelve leagues, encamped on a long peninsula on the west side of the lake. The next morning he began to collect plants, of which he gives the following names, exclusive of those mentioned in his Flora as occurring in this region:*

Lycopus Virginicus, Linn.; Scirpus sylvaticus, Linn.; S. eriophorum, Michx.; Phalaris arundinacea, Linn.; Cornus Canadensis, Linn.; C. stolonifera, Michx.; Potamogeton perfo liatum, Linn.; Linnæa borealis, Gronov.; Ulmus fulva, Michx.; Streptopus distortus, Michx; Convallaria stellata, Linn.; Triglochin maritimum, Linn.; Epilobium angustifolium, Linn.; Vaccinium oxycoccus, Linn.; V. hispidulum, Linn.; V. uliginosum, Linn.; Pyrola secunda, Linn.; Epigæa repens, Linn.; Spergulastrum lanceolatum, Michx.; Cerasus borealis, Michx.; Sorbus aucuparia, Linn., (Pyrus Americana, D. C.); Geum rivale, Linn.; Potentilla fruticosa, Linn.; Rubus occidentalis, Linn.; R. arcticus, Linn.; Prunella vulgaris, Linn.; Rhinanthus Crista-galli, Linn.; Sisyrinchium Bermudiana, Linn.; Geranium Carolinianum, Linn.; Bartsia pallida, Linn.; Hedysarum alpinum, Michx.; Hieracium scabrum, Michx.; H. Canadense, Michx.; Aster macrophyllus, Linn.; Solidago aspera, Ait.; Senecio, aureus, Linn.; Lobelia Dortmanna,† Linn.; Carex flava, Linn.; Betula papyrifera, Michx.; Sparganium angustifolium, Michx. ; Abies alba, Michx.; A. balsamifera, Michx.; A. denticulata, Michx.; Pinus inops ? Ait.; Salix incana, Michx; Acer montanum, Ait.; Osmunda regalis, Linn.

Having made his collections, and reached the other side of the lake, Michaux proceeded on his journey; chosing for this purpose, among the discharges of the lake, a large and fine river falling into Hudson's Bay, and known as the Rivière des Goëlands (Gull

Flora Boreali-Americana, ad sinum Hudsonis et juxta lacus, Mistassini, vol. i, fol. 5, 11, 14, 61, 64, 111, 124, 191, 223; vol. ii, fol. 2, 115, 121, 123, 153, 154, 171, 172, 173, 175, 180, 283.

†The Lobelia Dortmanna is a rare species in Canada: I have as yet found it in but two localities, Lake Kenogami and Lake St. Joachim.

The Pinus inops here mentioned is the P. Banksiana, Lamb., P. rupestris, Michx. fils., already mentioned on page 333. It may be here remarked, however, that it attains in some localities a height of thirty feet.

River), which is very probably that designated in the maps as Rupert's River. He followed this for some distance, and camped on the night of September 5th, near the Atchoukue or Seal River. The next day a cold fog was succeeded by rain and snow, and compelled him to stop. The Indians, fearing the rigors of the season, refused to go further, assuring him that if the snow continued it would be impossible for them to return. It was therefore decided that they should immediately retrace their way to Lake Mistassini, where they arrived that night. Along the banks of the Gull River the following plants were collected:-Xylosteum villosum, Michx.; Primula Mistassinica, Michx.; Ledum latifolium, Ait.; Rubus Chamamorus, Linn.; Aster uniflorus, Michx.; Carex Richardi, Thuill.; Betula nana, Linn.; Myriophyllum spicatum, Linn.; Salix incana, Michx.; Myrica Gale, Linn.; Lycopodium annotinum, Linn.

Michaux left Lake Mistassini on the 7th of September. His journey back, although difficult, was rapid; and from the height of land the descending currents of the rivers, now swollen, enabled the travellers to pass down in their canoes over most of the rapids where they had made portages in ascending. On the 9th of September he passed Swan Lake and camped at Monte-à-Peine, and on the 10th reached the river Mistassini, and camped at night "four leagues below the Larges Rapides, near the first Weymouth pines (Pinus strobus) which we met on our way downwards." On the 12th, Michaux reached Lake St. John, and two days later left for Quebec; from which he returned, by way of Montreal and Lake Champlain, to Philadelphia, where he arrived on the 8th of December, 1792.

"REMINISCENCES OF AMHERST COLLEGE."

BY EDWARD HITCHCOCK, D.D., LL.D.*

This is a book which should be read by all our young naturalists, and by all connected with our colleges and schools. It shows what can be done for natural science, education, and Christianity by the earnest labors of a self-denying man, even under the disadvantages of poverty, want of educational privileges, and bodily weakness; and is full of suggestive hints as to the best means of overcoming the difficulties which beset the pursuit of science and education in this country.

Northampton, Mass., U. S.: Published by Bridgman & Childs, 1863.

Its interest as a narrative and as a study of human nature is also great. Mixed with some pardonable egotisms, it brings before us a vivid picture of the genuine old New England puritan character, in its energy, its stubborn endurance, its rigid honesty and integrity, its horror of debt and dependence, and its quiet enthusiasm, qualities which, it is to be feared, have somewhat died out in more recent times, and which certainly require culture among the young men of Canada.

We purpose, in the present notice, to give a few extracts illustrative of the early life and character of Dr. Hitchcock, and of his efforts in behalf of natural history, and especially of the museum of Amherst College.

The following extracts refer to the difficulties of his early life: "One of these circumstances was the comparative poverty of my early condition. It was not absolute poverty, for my father moved among the most respectable of the people of Deerfield, where I was born, and was honored among them especially by being chosen deacon of the Orthodox church, of which he was long one of the strongest pillars. But he had to struggle hard with a trade. not very lucrative, to feed, clothe, and educate a large family. He had commenced his family career during the Revolutionary War, in which he had been twice engaged as a soldier, as was his father, who fell a sacrifice to the diseases of the camp. The debts which he contracted when Continental Notes were almost the only money, hung like an incubus upon him nearly all his life, and he was relieved only when his sons were old enough to aid him. But he was highly intellectual in his habits, and studied theology especially, with much success." [Towards the close of his life, as but few sympathized with him in his religious views, the church with which he was connected having passed into other hands, he committed many of his thoughts to writing, and some of the essays and sermons which he left "would do no discredit to educated clergymen."]

"It cannot be doubted that such a father would do all he could for the education of his children. We were first carried thoroughly through the primary school, and then had the advantages of a good academy, as much as we could find time and means to improve. But he could go no farther with any of us-he had three sons. And nothing was before me but a life of manual labor. But as I had a great aversion to being apprenticed to a tradesman, he did not attempt even to teach me his own trade,

that of a hatter. Farming was the only resort, and I worked on the farm-not on my father's, for he had none-but on land hired by my brother-I know not how many years. I liked the employment; but, as I shall state more particularly in a few moments, I had acquired a strong relish for scientific pursuits, and I seized upon every moment I could secure especially rainy days and eveningsfor those studies. I was treated very leniently by my father and brother, who probably did not know what to do with me, but saw plainly that I should not become distinguished as a farmer. My literary taste was also greatly encouraged by a few companions in Deerfield with whom I united in a society, whose weekly meetings we kept up for years, which had a department for debate, and another for philosophical discussion. I always regarded this as one of the most important means of mental discipline that I ever enjoyed.

"But perhaps the most important lesson taught me by my straitened circumstances was habits of rigid economy. I learnt that these were more important than a large income. I learnt the value of money, and that the use of it is one of those talents for which we must give an account. It has made me ever since opposed to any useless expenditure of money in clothing, food, furniture, servants, equipage, journeyings, &c. I have been opposed to large salaries; and am confident, that, if the truth were known, our public institutions, literary, political, and religious, have the greatest real prosperity when their officers' salaries are low; for the temptation to extravagance with an increase of means is well nigh irresistible. I have always felt it to be an imperious duty for the officers of a literary institution, which contains indigent young men, to set an example in plainness in dress, equipage, and living, that they might be encouraged. In respect to books, apparatus, and specimens, and even objects to improve the taste, such as paintings, statuary, and articles of vertu, I would counsel as large an expenditure as possible, for that is true economy; and to get large sums for these and benevolent objects is the great purpose of economy in personal expenses. But I have ever found men more ready to call your economy parsimoniousness, than to inquire into the liberality of your benefactions for worthy objects.

"For the formation of a taste for science I was doubtless indebted to my uncle, Major-General Epaphras Hoyt, of Deerfield, a near neighbor. He gave the most attention to military science, on which he published some valuable works, and to which I devoted

myself with considerable interest, especially to fortification, when from fifteen to eighteen years of age. But he was also deeply interested in astronomy and natural philosophy, and these branches became my favorites. The great comet of 1811, and access to some good instruments for observing it, belonging to Deerfield Academy, gave me a decided bias for astronomy. From the 7th of September, 1811, to the 17th of December, corresponding to the appearance and disappearance of the comet, I was engaged in making observations, not only on the comet's distances from stars, but on the latitute and longitude by lunar distances and eclipses of the sun and moon, and on the variation of the magnetic needle. I gave myself to this labor so assiduously that my health failed, and I well remember that when my physician was consulted he said, 'I see what your difficulty is: you have got the comet's tail in your stomach.' To reduce my numerous observations cost me several more months of study, so imperfect were the means of calculation in my hands. Yet I have sometimes thought, when looking over my record of these observations and the results, that they might almost be worth publication, although much inferior to similar works in the observatories of the present day. Indeed, General Hoyt, under whose direction I labored, and who often aided me in observations, communicated some of them to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and they were published by that society. But I experienced great benefit from the work, in the mental discipline it required, and I acquired a strong love for theoretical and practical astronomy. I became, in fact, such an enthusiast in this respect, that I could cheerfully forego every ordinary source of pleasure sought after by young men, in order to gratify this scientific passion.

"But I was destined to a sad disappointment in this, my first scientific love. I had for a considerable time been engaged in the study of Latin and Greek, in the hope of entering the University at Cambridge in advanced standing, and using my eyes upon Greek during an attack of the mumps, a sudden weakness of the eyes came on which compelled me to suspend nearly all study and to change the whole course of my life, abandoning a college course as impracticable, and, for a time, nearly all hope of pursuing science or literature as a profession. I have now struggled with this affliction fifty years; and though for some time past, through the kindness of Providence, it has been much mitigated, it has seemed to be a very serious obstacle to my literary pursuits, and it certainly