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THE BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF G. W. CLINTON |
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THE BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF G. W.
CLINTON – October 1866 |
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[1866.] Oct. 2. Walked
in Canada. On the Lake Huron road, this side of the junction, noticed Aster
ericoides. In the muck [=cattle] at the junction, plenty of Solanum
carolinense, could find no flowers, & only one ball [?]. Going from the
junction towards the Steam ferry [= Ferry, Lake Huron Railroad] found one
plant of Nicandra physaloides, in flower & fruit. On the way back along
the Lake Shore, collected some univalves. Physa &c. for the Aquarium, a
stone under water, under side, found one crustacean, Oniscus? which I took,
but lost it somehow. The Dracocephalum parviflorum is utterly gone. This is
the 2d or 3d year I have looked for it in vain. In the village, between the
street & the river, near old Lake Huron R. R. landing [=Ferry], Artemisia
biennis very abundant tall & thrifty. [Oniscus is the genus of the common pill or sow
bug, a terrestrial isopod crustacean that rolls itself up into a little ball,
or pill, when threatened.] [1866.] Oct. 7. Went out to the Turnpike Gate,
McAdam road, to give Miss Dougherty, the gate‑keeper's daughter, two slips of
the sweet honeysuckle, which Mrs. A. T. Patchins sent me, yesterday morning,
by her husband. I think it was in the summer of 1863, that I promised to try &
get the plant for Miss D. had not been able to before. On Main St., by the
fence of Schanzlin's garden, saw one plant of Lapsana communis. Probably I
scattered seed there last year. Walked, on Batavia St., to the Arsenal &
turned down to William St., on it to the Central Railroad, on that to Clinton
St., and back along that St. All the way on William St., Artemisia biennis
common, none on Clinton St. The reason, probably, is that cattle are driven
from the Canadian roads along William St., & not along Clinton St., to
the cattle yards of the Central Railroad. Day told me, some time ago,
that he thinks we have two prostrate species of Euphorbia, the commonest one,
if we have two, is E. maculata. On the railroad &c took 2 or 3 specimens
of a prostrate Euphorbia, which were smaller than E. maculata usually is with us, but somewhat hairy, &
probably, nothing but maculata. ((In May, 1826, a parcel of
students at the Van Rensselaer School, under the guidance of Prof. Amos
Eaton, then at the head of it, chartered a canal boat & navigated the
canal, from Troy to Buffalo & back, to study natural history, in all its
branches, & particularly the Canal Rocks. I was of that party; on the way
up Rafinesque joined us & was with us some days. At Tonawanda we got a
dogfish (Amia), it was new to R. & he examined it with delight,
pronounced it new, generically & specifically, & designated it as
Osteognathos (bony‑chin) chloripteros (greenfin). He, however, probably
afterwards satisfied himself that it was an Amia & described. At any
rate, he never, I understand, published it.)) [The Arsenal in 1862 was on a lot bounded on the
south by William St., the north by Batavia. To the west (Otter St.) and east,
Milnor St. The next street west was Michigan. East of it was St. Marys Church,
Roman Catholic. Otter St. seems to have been replaced by what is now Nash St.
and Batavia St. is now Broadway. The Arsenal seems to have been replaced by
the City Streets Dept. William St. is intersected by 24 streets as one goes
east to the intersection of the New York Central ‑ quite a walk by modern
standards, and then back along Clinton St. The cattle yards here must be
beyond the intersection of the New York Central and Williams St. The canal
boat tour is described by Zenkert (1934. Flora of the Niagara Frontier
Region. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences Vol. XVI.] [1866.] Nov. 9. In Schuyler Lake they have a
fish they call the Dace, said to attain a weight of 2 or 3 lbs. It is like
the true chub, but not so rounded. The mouth is bony, not leathery, & the
teeth are in the throat. In the small streams is what they call the
[nursery?] chub, a small white scaled fish, dumpy [?], with a black spot or
spots on each side. Brought back with me 1 specimen of each. [1866.] (Aug. 28. While at Richfield Springs,
either in Aug. or Sept. I think in Aug. & for the convenience of
Reference, will say Aug. 28, Mr. & Mrs. Bowne, Mr. Gould & Mrs.
[unspecified], her daughter & Bowne's, myself & wife, in carriages,
went to Cooperstown. There I had the pleasure of meeting Grote. We visited
Cooper's grave, the cemetery in which his monument stands, & then down up
the west side of the Lake to Tunnicliff's, where we dined on Otsego bass
&c., boated a little on the Lake & then home, I had no opportunity to
botanize.) [At Cooperstown, in Otsego township, Otsego Co.
"J. Fenimore Cooper, the novelist, resided here; and his mansion and
grounds were among the finest in Central N. Y." (French 1860, ftnt. no.
6, p. 536. Clinton calls his fish Otsego shiner and Otsego salmon as well as
Otsego bass. The Lake is Schuyler Lake.] [1866.] ((Aug. 24. [Richfield Springs.] I have
omitted to enter, in place, & so enter here, that I observed Zizania
aquatica in Schuyler Lake, &, I think also on the more northerly of the
Little Lakes, and that Mr. Tunnicliff informed me that it is not native to
this region, and that he procured the seed from Canada, & introduced it
into the Schuyler Lake, & I think he said into other lakes. I should like
to know whether it grows, & if so whether as a native, in Summit Lake.)) |
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Scientific names may be looked up in the online checklist of Western New York plants. Find genus names beginning with A - C D - K L - P Q - Z. |
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