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Correspondence of Charles Peck and G. W. Clinton |
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The
Correspondence of Charles
Peck (1833-1917) and George
William Clinton (1807 1885) 1865 Part 1 Vol 1. (1) [I
227] [Letterhead:
University of the State of My dear Doctor, I had hoped to see
you at the meeting, but alas! how liable are human
hopes to disappointment!! The printing of the Cabinet Report has commenced. I
enclose you the proof of the Report proper. Please to look it over, correct
as you see fit. I also enclose the table of contents & Paine's title to
his article. Is it all right as it stands in the table. His paper seems not
to correspond with that. Where is your paper. Please
return answer &
paper at the earliest moment. Hon. S. B.
Woolworth [written in left
margin:] Is "Rev. L. Holzer, Received May 11
& answered In
1865 John Paine Jr. would publish a "Catalogue of the Plants of Oneida
County and Vicinity", which was "virtually a flora of the entire [ Since
the Chancellor's introduction to the 18th report is dated March 22, 1865 and
Woolworth's letter is dated May of that year, one might presume that the
actual issue date was in the second half of 1865. S. B. Woolworth was Secretary
of the Regents of the State University of New York. In
the same volume as Paine's Earlier
in the year (1865), on January 25, after a visit with Asa Gray in Charles F. Peck, the muscologist, spent
some time with me in the Curator's Room, & so did Henry B. Lord & his
wife." This appears to have been Peck's botanical responsibilities were
more inclusive than just mosses and liverworts. On January 27 On March 31, On
May 1: " To date, this spring, have collected
& had identified by Mr. Peck 15 mosses & one Liverwort." Vol 1. (4) [I 224] My Dear Sir, Your letter of the 15th inst. [=instant] was just received. The moss
is Physcomitrium pyriforme Br. & Sch. It is much smaller
than Funaria hygrometrica and has the capsule more erect and differently
shaped. The liverwort is Marchantia polymorpha. The part you
allude to is not fruit but a growth which is mentioned in the description as
"lentil‑shaped gemmae in cup‑like receptacles on the back of
the frond." Mr. Pratt presented to me, the other day, your suggestion to make a
Catalogue of the mosses hitherto found in our state, for the present Report
of the Regents. Will it not be better to defer this Catalogue till the next
Report? I am under the impression that the Report is issued every year and
that the present one is already nearly printed. I can make the Catalogue much
more complete then than I can now. In it I would give the habitat of
all the species, the locality of the less common ones and the time
of maturing the fruit so far as is practicable. This last item is uncertain
in my mind yet, in several species, but I can determine it in the course of
the season by observation. Besides I shall doubtless add several new species to the list
already known, during the summer. I found one not hitherto detected in the
state, on Saturday last, on the Helderberg Mts. ‑ Barbula convoluta.
Mr. Adee has already sent me another, ‑ Funaria flavicans.
He gave no locality but I suppose he found it within our liimits. I have sent
for the locality and more specimens. I think perhaps in view of the much greater completeness of the Catalogue
we had better not try to hurry it into the present Report. By next winter I
will have it ready and as correct as possible. I send a bit of Funaria hygrometrica picked up yesterday. The
capsules are not yet entirely ripe. Yours truly Charles H. Peck Judge G. W. Clinton Recieved May 17 [1865] In
the next year, Peck was to publish his checklist: Peck, Charles H. 1866.
"List of Mosses of the State of New-York" pp. 42-70 (musci and
hepaticae).19th Annual Report of the Regents of the University of the State
of New York, on the Condition of the State Cabinet of Natural History, and
the Historical and Antiquarian Collection Annexed Thereto. State of It
appears that The Physcomitrium is probably
the moss referred to above by Vol.
1. 78. I 143. Peck was to acknowledge a specimen of Funaria flavicans
"Damp clayey soil in woods. The
first letter in [In
a very elegant hand.] 42
& My
dear Sir, Many thanks for your consideration and
kindness in sending me the paper containing an account of your 4th of July
oration. Its receipt gave me great pleasure and I was much pleased in reading
it to notice the agreement of the views you express with the humble opinions
I had formed on the same subjects. I write this in haste, for I have been
confined to I have enjoyed a very pleasant and
instructive correspondence with Mr. Peck, thanks to your kind introduction to
him. He has been untiring in his efforts to render me assistance in the
cloudy paths of bryology. I have found that he is an adept in the science of
entomology, a branch of study in which I have taken some interest, and this
has served to make a still stronger bond of friendship between us. I presume you can inform me whether the
Report of the Regents for this year has been yet issued. I wrote to Dr.
Woolworth two months since, and he promised to send me a copy as soon as
issued. I hope that you now have many
opportunities to enjoy your favorite study in these warm months. The summer
vacations of the courts and the stagnation of business in the heated terms
probably give you a great increase of leisure. I hope you may be fortunate
enough to come across Silvia natans in one of your rambles and thus restore
it to the place Pursh assigned to it in our Flora. Hoping that you will excuse the rambling
and hasty character of this note, I remain, with best wishes, for your
welfare. Very truly your young friend Alvey Augustus Adee. Recd.
July 11 ansd 17th Vol 1. (5) [I 223] Judge Clinton My Dear Sir, Your specimen from It is a species common in rather damp or clayey soil and is now in
excellent condition for collecting ‑ the fruit being nearly ripe. Yours truly Charles H. Peck Recieved May 28 Physcomitrium
pyriforme Note: this species requires the capsule to be identified
satisfactorily. It is past due by the end of May and must be found just after
the snows melt during the season of the vascular spring ephemerals
. On May 15 Vol 1. (6) [I 222] My Dear Sir, Yours of the 17th is at hand. The Polytrichum is Polytrichum juniperinum
Hedw. It differs from P. commune in its more glaucous color and its entire
leaves (in that species they are serrate).
The tree‑like moss is Climacium Americanum Brid.
We have another species, C. dendroides, but it is very rare. The others are, No. 1 Hypnum orthocladon Beauv. No. 2 Hypnum hispidulum Brid. No. 3 Bryum bimum Schreb. No. 4 Hypnum rutabulum L. No. 5 Barbula caespitosa Schwaegr. No. 6 Barbula tortuosa Web. & Mohr No. 7 Hypnum radicale Brid. No. 8 Fegetella conica Cord. (Liverwort) No. 3 and 6 I have never found. Mr. Lesquereux found No. 3 near Yours truly Charles H. Peck Judge G. W. Clinton P.S. Nos 1 and 7 are both very variable and seem to almost if not
quite run into each other. 1 is most often found on wet rocks or moist
ground, 7, on decaying wood or roots of trees. Received May 19 Peck's
correspondence with Leo Lesquereux of The correspondence of Leo
Lesquereux to George Clinton for the year 1865 is posted on line with the
present letters of Peck. On
May 13, Vol 1. (10) [I 218] My Dear Sir, Yours of the 19th inst was received yesterday. I would name the
specimens as follows: 1 Sphagnum cymbifolium Dill. Probably S. latifolium is a synonym,
but I do not know certainly. 2 Hypnum Crista‑Castrensis L. Rather more slender than usual,
as if it had grown cramped among other mosses. 3 Leucobryum vulgare Hampe L. glaucum is a synonym 4 & 5 Both are Hypnum splendens Hedw. It is a common species in hilly wooded districts growing abundantly
on the ground and on rocks. It is in good fruiting condition in June when it
may be obtained with the operculum on the fruit. 6 Dicranum montanum Hedw. This is a beauty and a prize. I have never before seen it, and it is
quite rare. It is credited in the manual to Goat Island near 7 Dicranum undulatum Turn. 8 Neckera pennata Hedw. 9 Hypnum delicatulum L. 10 Same as 8 but not so large 11 Mnium spinulosum Br. Eur. 12 Mnium punctatum Hedw and Mnium affine Bland. I return the two in
separate papers. The latter may be distinguished at once by the color of the
pedicels which are red below, pale yellow above. I also send a bit of this
species with more than one pedicel. 13 Polytrichum juniperinum as you supposed. We have two species with
entire leaves ‑ this one and P. piliferum which is smaller and has a
long colorless hairpoint to the leaves, this hair point giving the plant a
hoary appearance. It grows in more mountainous places usually. 14 Marchantia polymorpha as you say. The fringed disk belongs to the
fertile or female flowers, the one with entire or crenate margin to the male. Thanks for the correction of my error in the use of the
interrogation (?) I have observed it in both positions in printed Catalogues
but reason affirms that the one you assign is the correct one. Yours truly Charles H. Peck Judge G. W. Clinton Received May 24. On May 22, Clinton wrote in
his journal that he visited Smoke's Creek, a lovely stream that flows west
into Lake Erie just south of Buffalo: "?!, This season, until today, I have collected very little. I
have enjoyed grabbing mosses & sending them to Mr. Charles H. Peck, for
determination." Vol 1. (14) [I 214] My Dear Sir, Yours of the 26th inst. I just received. Do not hesitate to send me
a sample of all the mosses you find, for I am as anxious to receive them as
you possibly can be to send them. You have already sent me 2 or 3 which I had
not found here and will doubtless find several more new ones. I did not receive the specimens 1 ‑ 8 from I did receive the Hepatica of the 22nd. It is Radula complanata
Dum. Pardon me for not answering it. I
thought, as it was a singly specimen and had been sent before, I would give
you its name with the next installment, which I hoped to receive in a few
days. There is not much difference in the form of the capsules of Mnium
affine and Mnium punctatum after they have discharged their contents and are
old. But those of Mnium punctatum are more inclined to an oval or oblong oval
shape before they are deoperculated. I send you good specimens of both
species with the operculum yet on the capsules. The leaves of Mnium punctatum
are entire on the margin, those of Mnium affine are serrated with spine like
teeth, but this can only be seen when moistened and viewed with a microscope
or pretty good lens. I am sorry you have lost our Fissidens minutulus, as it is late now
to find it good. It is good late in autumn or in early spring. I will look up
the specimen you sent me and return it. It was a good one and I laid it one
side so carefully that I can not now put my hand on it and I must hurry to
the cars as I am going out ot town to day. Yours truly Charles H. Peck Judge G. W. Clinton Received May 28 On
March 18 The
hepatica of the 22d may have derived from Smoke's Creek. Vol 1. (15) [I 213] Judge Clinton. My Dear Sir, I wrote in such haste on Saturday that I had not time to look up the
specimen of Fissidens minutulus which you sent me. I now return it, as you
have lost yours and desire one for reference. This species is rather common
but not abundant. I have found it in several places but always in limited
quantity. It grows on stones or the ground in shaded ravines. Fissidens
bryoides, which resembles it, but has an excurrent costa to the leaves, is
sometimes found growing in and around flower pots in conservatories. I have a
specimen from such a habitat in I went out to Center, a station midway between Of flowering plants I found, for the first time Moehringia lateriflora
and Smilacina stellata. Viola lanceolata grows in
a swamp near the station and Trillium cernuum, also close by. Your Catalogue
I believe calls only for the S. stellata of these species, and that in fruit.
Yours truly Charles H. Peck Received May 30 Vol 1. (23) [I 205] My Dear Sir, Your letter of May 18th with mosses from 1 Hypnum orthocladon Beauv. 2 is the same mixed with sterile Bryum 3 Barbula unguiculata Hedw. 4 Bryum intermedium Brid. I detected this species in this vicinity, the first time, May 27th.
Mr. Adee has also sent me a bit of it. I can scarcely distinguish it from Bryum
caespiticium except by examination with the microscope which reveals hermaphrodite
inflorescence in B. intermedium and dioecious, in B.
caespiticium. Bryum bimum also has the inflorescence
hermaphrodite but it is larger, coarser and more "lurid‑green"
than B. intermedium and usually grows in more wet places. 5 Hypnum orthocladon Beauv. 6 Bryum bimum Schreb. 7 Funaria hygrometrica as you say. There is some sterile Bryum
intermixed, but the fruiting specimens are all as you give. 8 Hypnum orthocladon. This you see is a very variable species. I believe Mr. Sullivant in
his "Icones" writes H. orthocladon, H. radicale and one or two
other species all under one name, they appear to be so closely connected by
intermediate forms. I am collecting a good supply of duplicate specimens of mosses, and
also duplicates of many of my flowering plants with a view to future
exchanges, so that at the end of the season I shall be prepared to exchange.
I am much pleased with my new correspondent, Mr. Adee; and any more like him,
whose acquaintance you may aid me in forming, will be duly appreciated. Do not fear to send mosses, lest you should occupy too much of my
time. These things are interesting to me, and I would gladly examine and name
them for you, to the best of my ability, were it only for the sake of
exercising that kind and generous spirit which has so often been extended to
me and which all students of nature ought to possess; but aside from all this
I am thereby only benefitting myself by extending my knowledge of and
acquaintance with these interesting little plants. Yours truly Charles H. Peck Judge G. W. Clinton Received June 3 Vol 1. (24) [I 204] My Dear Sir, The mosses from 1 Hypnum orthocladon Beauv. 2 Hypnum orthocladon Beauv. as you suspected 3 Barbula unquiculata Hedw. 4 Bryum intermedium Brid. 5 same as 1 6 Bryum bimum Schreb. 7 Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. 8 same as 1 9 Hypnum hispidulum Brid. The 2 tall ones with pendulous capsules are Bryum caespiticium L. 10 Ceratodon purpureus Brid. 11 Aulacomnion heterostichum 13 Mnium cuspidatum Hedw. 14 Hypnum rutabulum L. 15 Hypnum hispidulum Brid. in fruit Hypnum strigosum Hoffm. sterile but larger
and most conspicuously leafy. 16 same as 13 17 Aulacomnion heterostichum Br. & Sch. ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑**‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑ 18 Hypnum radicale Brid. 19 Hypnum laetum Brid. both [18 and 19] small forms 20 Ceratodon purpureus Brid. 21 Hypnum curvifolium Hedw. 22 Hypnum radicale Scarcely separate from small forms of H.
orthocladon 23 Hypnum orthocladon There is some Bryum with it, easily known by
its nodding capsules. 24 The capsules belong to a single stem of Hypnum curvifolium. The
rest is sterils Hypnum delicatulum. 25 Same as 23 26 Physcomitrium pyriforme Br. & Sch. 27 Same as 21 28 Bryum bimum in fruit, but the most abundant stems are sterile
Leskea rostrata ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑**‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑ 29 Gymnostomum curvirosrum Hedw. ? I am not quite positive about this. I have two different forms of Gymnostomum, one found |