History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 19

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 19

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BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY : GENERAL FEATURES .-- Essex County contains upwards of fifty ponds rich in water and marsh plants, while the deep woods of Mid- dleton, Boxford and Andover and those of Manches- ter and Essex closely resemble the interesting region at the base of the White Mountains of New Hamp- shire, and with these woods the bare and rugged shores of Cape Ann form a striking contrast.

The land plants belong to the northern flora, and some mountain species may yet be found, while a paradox in the shrubby form of the Magnolia glauca, still abundant in the Gloucester swamps, offers a sub- ject for speculation. The marine algæ belong deeid- edly to the arctic flora, for the long arm of Cape Cod projeeting into the ocean seems to form a natural bar- rier to the farther progress of southern species north- ward. At this point, too, the warm current of the Gulf Stream bears off to the eastward, while toward the shore, in Massachusetts Bay, the almost expended influence of the cold Labrador current is felt. A marked distinction is therefore found between the marine animals and plants north of Cape Cod and those

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at the south of it, although in favorable situations, in warm nooks, some southern species are found north of this barrier, while some northern ones retain a foot- hold south of it, and there are certain cosmopolitan species which flourish in all waters.

It will be seen, therefore, that with the great va- riety of animals aud plants which may be collected, and the natural limits which may be placed to the study of their distribution, attractions are offered which have proved sufficient to develop many stu- dents of botany and zoology at home, and to induce many others from abroad, among them some of the most emineut naturalists of the day, to come here to pursue their investigations.

Introduced Plants -The early settlement of the county and numerous historical data available to the botanist render this a particularly favorable region to observe the introduced plants. Many species, such as the genista, barberry, white-weed and others of European origin, early established themselves in places where they now flourish to an extent it would seem difficult for them to exceed in their native . lands. The natural fruits and vegetable productions, and such plants of the old country as could be made to succeed in this soil, were among the first things to which the colonists gave their attention, as early ac- counts amply testify, and thus we are, in many cases, able to trace the date of introduction of species now thoroughly naturalized. The study of these plants is aided by the little work entitled, "New England Rarities Discovered," by John Josselyn, au early traveler, who made several visits to this country, the most extended being from 1663 to 1671, when he seems to have given much attention to the native and introduced plants. A reprint of Josselyn's work, with notes by Professor Edward Tuckerman, is now available. In studying the Essex flora, it must be borne in mind that, by the clearing of the land and other great changes incident to the settlement, such native plants as were best able to endure these changes, and those which the changes favored, have now been given prominent places, while those which, at the time of the settlement, may have been abun- dant, but which were unable to endure the changed surroundings, are now scarce or have entirely disap- peared. To the hotanist all these questions add in- terest to the study of the local flora, and perhaps ex- plain why the plants have received more continuous attention than either the animals or the minerals of the county.

The Native Plants .- The following table, taken from the catalogue of the flora of Essex County, pub- lished by the Essex Institute in 1880, with addi- tional notes made from the herbarium of the Pea- body Academy of Science, gives a fair idea of the material available for botanical study and the dis- tribution of species among the different families, as well as the number of introduced plants to be found in the county :

Table showing the character of the plants, native und naturalized, growing in Essex County, Mass.

Orders.

Genera.

Species.

Varieties.

Introduced from

other portions of

United States.

Introduced from

foreign countries.

Native woody

plants.

47 8 o | Native trees.

Exogens ...

371

855

216

157

Gymnosperms.

Endogeos.

124

372

Vascular Cryptogams

...

Muscinæ

161

Characeæ

Thallophytes

115

312

...

115

699

1776

147

263

168

155

Total number of species recorded

1776

Species of Fungi (estimated).

1200

Species of fresh water Algæ (estimated). 200

Diatomaceæ (estimated). 250

Total of all species recorded and estimated. 3426

In this table the introduced plants ennmerated are chiefly such as have become thoroughly established, al- though sometimes very locally .; The Thallophytes in- clude only the lichens, of which forty-five genera, one hundred and fifty-seven species, are recorded, and the marine algæ, of which there are seventy genera, one hundred and fifty-four species. The fungi of the county have never been catalogued, owing to their great number and the difficulties attending their study ; but, judging from the catalognes of other re- gions, it is quite probable that twelve hundred spe- cies would be a fair estimate of their number. Nei- ther has any list been prepared of the Diatoms and Desmids, a numerous class, which, together with a large part of the fungi, are microscopic, and, al- though numerous in species, possess but little value in considering the flora as a whole, or the general distribution or character of the plants of the county.

Prominent Botanists .- The study of botany in Es- sex County, it may be said in New England, properly dates from the time of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, at the close of the last century. Early writers, as Francis Higginson, John Josselyn, William Wood, John Winthrop and others, refer to the native fruits and flowers. Josselyn published the well-known " New England Rarities Discovered," previously referred to, and Higginson, in a letter written from Salem in 1629-30 (Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. 1. p. 121), speaks of the "Flowering Mulberry," or raspberry, and "Chervil," or sweet Cicely, as growing near Salem in places where, certainly untiì a few years, these in- teresting historical plants still flourished. None of these writers can, however, be considered as Essex County botanists, and it is not until the close of the American Revolution that we find any serious or scientific study given to the plants of the county. Manasseh Cutler, of Hamilton, after his varied ser- vices of Revolutionary chaplain, lawyer, doctor, pas- tor, reformer and pioneer, found time to prepare, in 1783-84, as the the title of his paper says, " An ac- count of the vegetable production growing in this

SCIENCE IN ESSEX COUNTY.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

part of America, botanically arranged." This was published in the lirst volume of the "Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences," which was printed in 1785, where some three hundred and fifty species of flowering plants were described, and several important scientific points suggested, which have been since adopted in botanical treatises. Dr. Cut- ler's paper bears the date of presentation, January 26, 1784, and it was his intention to extend the work, several manuscript volumes now being in existence prepared toward this end.

Following Cutler came Dr. George Osgood and Dr. Andrew Nichols, both of Danvers. The former con- tributed notes for " Bigclow's Florula Bostoniensis," and published a partial list of plants in the vicinity of Danvers and Salem ; and the latter delivered, in 1816, a series of lectures on botany, the first of such ever given in this neighborhood. Dr. Nichols was one of the founders of the Essex County Natural History Society, and for some years its president, and he thus had an important influence on local botanical work. In 1823 two young men, both destined to be long re- membered on account of their contributions to botani- cal knowledge, began their work in Essex County. These were William Oakes, of Danvers, later of Ips- wich, and Charles Pickering, then spending much of his time at the homestead of his grandfather, Colonel Timothy Pickering, at Wenham.

Oakes, disgusted with law, his chosen profession, became the first critical botanist of the region, and at this time converted Dr. Pickering from entomology and conchology, studies he had first chosen, to bot- any. Oakes botanized with Pickering extensively in Essex County, particularly in the Great Swamp, Wenham, a region then almost in its primitive wild- ness. He afterwards prepared a list of Vermont plants for Thompson's history of that State, and had in contemplation a work on the plants of New Eng- land, which, owing to the appearance of Beck's Bot- any, was never completed. His most elaborate work was a folio volume on White Mountain scenery, illus- trated by Sprague, which, however, was not published until after his death, in 1848. Oakes was impulsive and generous, and thoroughly in earnest in his favor- ite study. Like many men of note, he was little appre- ciated while living, yet no monument could have been erected to make his memory more cherished aud his labors more respected by the present generation of botanists than that which he left behind,-an exten- sive collection of beautifully prepared botanical speci- mens determined with faultless accuracy, a portion of which formed the nucleus of the present county botanical cabinet, now in the hands of the Peabody Academy of Science in Salem.

Professor Tuckerman dedicated to him a pretty little plant common in the region of Plymouth, but as this was afterwards transferred to another genus, the name "Oakesia " has been given to the spring bellwort, a common Essex County plant, by Professor

Watson, of Cambridge, who, in his revision of the Liliaceæ, has thus named it to perpetuate the mem- ory of William Oakes.

In 1838 Dr. Pickering was appointed naturalist to the United States (Wilkes) Exploring Expedition, and, to perfect his knowledge of animals and plants in foreign countries, he made extensive journeys after his return from that expedition. He was the author of several works of great value, the production of which required untiring research. Among them are the "Geographical Distribution of Animals and Plants " and the "Chronological History of Plants," the latter occupying the last sixteen years of his life in its preparation.

It is but right that Essex County should claim a share of the honor of his name, for it was here that his attention was drawn to the study of botany, and in the " Chronological History of Plants," page 1063, we find the following entry : "1824. In this year, after an excursion in 1823 with William Oakes, di- verting my attention from entomology, (I made) my first botanical discovery." Dr. Pickering retained the deepest interest in botanical work in Essex . County until his death, which occurred at Boston March 17, 1878.

The work of the Essex Institute from its founda- tion, in 1848, following that of the Essex County Natural History Society, from which it was in part developed, was largely devoted to botany and horti- culture, a leading speaker at its meetings and con- tributor to its publications being Rev. John Lewis Russell, who made his home in Salem in 1853.

Mr. Russell devoted himself principally to crypto- gamic botany, publishing accounts of his investiga- tions from time to time as he proceeded. He was, besides, the author of many popular articles on va- rious families of plants. He lectured frequently on botany, and was for many years vice-president of the Essex Institute, and contributed much to the general knowledge of botany in Essex County, but his most extensive collections were made in other places.

Among the earlier published catalogues of the plants of portions of the county was the " Studies of the Essex Flora," by Mr. Cyrus M. Tracy, of Lynn. This was intended to give a list of the flowering plants found in the neighborhood of Lynn, and enumerated five hundred and forty-six species. Be- sides possessing a very happy gift as a botanical lec- turer, Mr. Tracy has contributed several valuable articles upon local botany to the publications of the Essex Institute and elsewhere.

At the evening and field meetings of the Essex Institute many papers on botanical subjects have been presented, including, in addition to those pre- viously referred to, contributions from George D. Phippen, S. B. Buttrick, John Robinson and John H. Sears, of Salem; Rev. A. B. Alcott, of Boxford; Miss Mary N. Plumer, of Newburyport ; Miss H. A. Paine, of Groveland; and others. Many students of

lxxxi

SCIENCE IN ESSEX COUNTY.

botany are distributed throughout the county, and numerous private herbaria have been formed, and, at the rooms of the Peabody Academy of Science in Salem, a large and valuable collection of the plants of Essex County is accessible to botanists. Special work has been done by several authors and collectors outside of the county, who have either visited this re- gion to study the plants, or who have made compar- ative observation from specimens sent to them from the county for the purpose. W. H. Harvey visited Nahant about 1850 to study the marine algæ in pre- paring his famous work, "Nereis Boreali-Americana," which was published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1852-57. Professor W. G. Farlow, in his "Algæ of New England," and in his monograph of the Gymno- sporangea, includes the Essex County species studied by him at various stations. Dr. B. D. Halstead and Dr. T. F. Allen have studied the Characeæ, and have published articles on the species ; Mr. F. S. Collins has carefully studied the marine algæ, Mr. C. E. Faxon the grasses, sedges and mosses, and Mr. C. J. Sprague the licheus. Rev. A. B. Hervey, now of Taunton, worked almost entirely in Essex County in preparing his "Collector's Guide and Introduction to the Study of Marine Alga." Nearly all of the work of Essex County botanists has been systematic ; at least little, if anything, in the way of original research has been published by any county author in relation to the physiology or morphology of plants.

Horticulture .- In horticulture, a science too seldom treated as such, the citizens of Essex County have furnished valuable contributions. The establishment of the Essex Agricultural Society and the horticul- tural department of the Essex Institute have doubtless fostered the interest which has been shown from the earliest date in this subject, and which at times has been given considerable prominence in the county. There are several names worthy to be mentioned as promoters of the science of horticulture. Robert Manning, of Salem, whose death in the midst of his labors occurred in 1842, at one time cultivated in his own gardens, for the purpose of critical comparison, nearly one thousand varieties of pears, together with other fruits, sufficient to make the total of two thou- sand varieties, several of which he originated. John Fisk Allen, as early as 1843, produced some valuable varieties of grapes, the famous " Allen's Hybrid " be- ing one of the number, and during the years of his experimenting in horticulture he tested the large number of four hundred varieties of grapes under glass. Mr. Allen was the first person in New Eng- land and the second in the United States to success- fully cultivate the great water lily of South America ( Victoria regia), which he flowered in Salem in 1853, and later he published, at great expense, a superbly illustrated folio work on its habits and cultivation. Between 1830 and 1877 Mr. Geo. Haskell, of Ipswich, made many scientific experiments in the culture of the grape by grafting, inarching amd hybridization,

the results of which he published in pamphlet form in 1877. During this time Mr. Haskell produced sev- eral hardy hybrid grapes of acknowledged merit. Beginning in 1861 and continuing for several years afterward, Mr. Edward S. Rogers, of Salem, by a strictly scientific experiment, the result of excellent botanical knowledge, produced the famous hybrids between the native fox grape and the more tender hot-house varieties, known as the "Rogers' Grapes." These have given to cultivators a class of hardy grapes of rare excellence and world-wide reputation, and have won for the originator the gold medal of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the highest award of the most eminent institution of its character in America.

Zoology.1-Though Essex County has been a favor- ite collecting ground for naturalists for many years, exact statistics of its fauna are lacking. For this there are several reasons, the most prominent of which is that in recent years students have failed to record the results of their researches. Thus, of the mollusks, no catalogue has been published for half a century, while not a single group of insects has been thoroughly worked up. In fact, the only group con- cerning which we have definite statistical knowledge is that of the vertebrates, where we have, thanks to the labors of Messrs. Goode and Bean, of the United States National Museum, a catalogne of all the fishes that are known within the county limits, and the ex- cellent catalogue of the birds by F. W. Putnam, which, although the work of his youth, has required but few corrections to bring it up to the present time. Of the other vertebrates, the turtles, snakes and batrachians are comparatively few in number and fairly well known, while to the knowledge of the existing mam- mals but little can be added, although a very interest- iug chapter could be written upon those which have disappeared, and whose story must be looked for in the early colonial records and the Indian shell-heaps. We have many catalogues of New England animals, but it is a difficult task for a student to predict from these exactly what forms will be found in a certain restricted region. Thus the land forms to be found in Northern Maine or on the White Mountains would differ greatly from those occurring near the shore of Long Island Sound, and from neither could we ex - actly tell those which would be found in Essex County. In the marine fauna, too, a similar difficulty is noted, for Cape Cod divides the animals occurring in the salt water into two groups, each with its own facies, although there are of course many species which occur on either side of that barrier.

The following estimate of the number of species, although but rudely approximate, may serve as a guide for the present and until further published

1 The writer is largely indebted to Prof. J. S. Kingsley, of the State University of Indiana, formerly a special student at the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem, for the account of this branch of the natural history of the county.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

work shall furnish us with accurate figures (in some groups there are almost no data to base any conclu- sions upon, while others, however, are comparatively well known) :

Sponges. 30

Cuenterates. 100

Echinoderms. 30

Molluscoidea 60

Mollusca.

390

Worms

225

Crustacea

250

Insects.

2500

Vertebrates :

Ascidia

Fishes.

150

Batrachia.

Reptiles

Birds,

266

Mammals

517

4102

In the above estimate both the fresh water and ma- rine fauna are included. Of the simplest forms of animal life, the Protozoa, no account is made for the reason that absolutely nothing is known of them be- yond the fact that the species are very abundant ; every stagnant pool has its population, while the mud near the shore is actually alive with them. Incon- spicuous as they are, they play an important part in the food supply of many of the economic fishes, as well as in destroying still smaller forms which might otherwise be injurious to human health. Of the sponges of the county hut little is known ; many of them are inconspicuous, and none are of value for the ordinary purposes for which sponges are used, as all lack that resilience of fibre characteristic of commer- cial sponges. The finest examples of sponges in Essex County have been found on the piles of Essex bridge.

The marine worms are very abundant, and furnish a large amount of food for fishes. While the ordinary conception of a worm is that of a disgusting animal, many of the marine worms are marvels of beauty both in shape and color. In this respect however they must yield to some of the Cœlenterates, a group which includes the jelly-fish, sea-anemones and those other flowers of the sea which the naturalist calls hydroids. None of these, however, have the economic importance possessed by some of the mollusks and crustacea, groups which furnish the oyster, clam and lobster.

The insects are almost solely terrestrial and, as will be seen from the above table, include over half the total number of species occurring in the county. Of these the beetles are the most numerous in species, it being estimated that from twelve to fifteen hundred can be found within the boundaries. Next in nu- merical importance come the flies and bugs, followed in turn by the bees and ants on the one hand, and the butterflies and moths on the other, the remaining forms of insects being few in number of species. The vertebrates are so well known that they need no fur- ther mention than the figures against the different orders in the table above.

The marine fauna of Essex County is decidedly northern. The majority of the species found along the coast range north to the British provinces, and not a few may be collected on the shores of Europe, mak- ing the passage by the way of the Arctic seas. A smaller number range southward and pass the bound- ary line of Cape Cod, though but few extend in this direction beyond the Jersey shore. The land animals are likewise northern in character, and Essex County may be regarded as a portion of the " Alleghanian region " of the "Eastern province " of zoological geog- raphy.

Several localities in the county have become famous as zoological centres, either from the students who have lived near them or from the profusion of the material they offer for study. To the first category belongs Salem, for the Essex Institute and the Peabody Academy of Science have drawn many zoologists hither. Here Wheatland, Putman, Packard, Hyatt, Morse, Emerton and Cooke have labored, while for several years students came from all parts of the country to attend the Academy's Summer School of Biology. Salem may also rank among the places of the other group, for there are few spots on the whole New England coast which furnish better collecting ground than that around Essex (Beverly) Bridge, where the number of species to be found is very large, although indiscriminate collecting would soon deplete it. Next in order is Nahant where the Agassizs, fa- ther and son, with their assistants and pupils, did so much to enlarge our knowledge of the marine life. More lately Annisquam has come into prominence through the laboratory there established in 1881 by Professor Hyatt and maintained by the Women's Ed- ucational Society of Boston.

The interest in zoological studies has been fostered by the various scientific societies within the county, the most prominent among which are the Essex In- stitute and the Peabody Academy of Science of Salem. Besides these may be enumerated the Lynn Natural History Society, the Cape Anu Literary and Scientific Society, at Gloucester, the Danvers Natural History Society, the Bradford Natural History Society, the West Newbury Natural History Society, the Merri- mac Natural History Society, of Amesbury, and the Cuvier Club, of Salem, which last, although composed entirely of young people, gives promise of good results, For two years the United States Fish Commission made Essex County the centre of its explorations, contributing much information of valne, especially in relation to the deep-water animals.

The fauna of Essex County has been made the sub- ject of several studies, some of which are worthy of mention in the present sketch. Professor Hyatt has studied the sponges ; the Agassizs, father and son, and the late H. J. Cook have investigated the radiates the development of the worms has been studied by Alexander Agassiz and Charles Girard ; the mollusca have been investigated by John Lewis Russell

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SCIENCE IN ESSEX COUNTY.

William Stimpson and Edward S. Morse; Professor Morse, also, was the first author to point out the true position of the brachiopods among the worms, his theory now being adopted by the most eminent scien- tists. The crustacea and their development have been studied by A. S. Packard and J. S. Kingsley ; the harvestmen have been described by H. C. Wood, and J. H. Emerton has made and published researches on the spiders. Among the insects, the work of A. S. Packard, S. H. Scudder and F. W. Putman deserves mention. J. S. Kingsley has described the develop-

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 19

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538