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André and Francois André Michaux (review)

1989; University of Hawaii Press; Volume: 12; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/bio.2010.0488

1529-1456

Nigel J. H. Smith,

Plant and animal studies

REVIEWS 67 most precious claim on life, his ally against death." And when Freud's cancer became terminal, and he requested his doctor Max Schur to give him a fatal dose of morphine, it was Anna—along with Schur—who agreed to this request. At the end of his book, in "Acknowledgments," Gay shows that many Freud documents are restricted, including most of the letters that Freud wrote his financée during their five years of engagement. When these become known they may change views on Freud. Until then Gay has written the most rounded biography of Freud as a man and thinker—and the most moving. Ralph Colp, Jr. Columbia University Henry Savage, Jr. and Elizabeth J. Savage, André and Francois André Michaux. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986. 420 pp. $27.50. André and Francois André Michaux, a father and son team operating in the latter eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, pioneered American forestry and were the first botanists to extensively collect in the eastern half of the United States. The curious aspect about their accomplishments is that they were Frenchmen, not Americans, and they made major contributions to botany while that field of study was slowly emerging from the shadows of medicine from which it got its start. This biography provides a major service to botanists, foresters, biogeographers, and those interested in the history of science by providing a carefully researched study of the lives and accomplishments of the pioneer French botanists. André Michaux first set foot in the United States in 1785 after cutting his teeth on botanical explorations in England, France, Persia, Syria, and Iraq. As a botanist to Louis XVI, Michaux's mission was to enrich France and the United States with mutually beneficial plant exchanges. France was interested in procuring fast-growing trees to replenish its forests plundered for timbers to supply ships, buildings, and for firewood. New crops and varieties for gardeners and farmers were also one of Michaux's mandates. Michaux sent thousands of seeds and seedlings to three principle staging areas in France for naturalization and eventual distribution around the country: the well-tended Jardin des Plantes in Paris, the extensive Rambouillet estate, and lavish Versailles. Michaux also sent some North American animals to France, including various ducks, quail, wild turkey, and deer. The U.S. did not come up empty-handed after welcoming Michaux. The energetic botanist introduced a camellia (Camellia japónica), sweet olive (Osmanthus fragrans), and Chinese azaleas, all widely cultivated in southern gardens. Michaux also introduced the graceful powderpuff tree (Albizia julibrissin), now an escapee in Florida. France was a stepping stone for this Asian ornamental which Michaux collected in Persia. Michaux brought the gingko, a Chinese tree with distinctive fan-shaped leaves, to the cooler parts of the eastern U.S. Michaux's introductions also included fruit trees, such as Persian peaches, plums, almonds, pomegranate, and tea—the latter, it was hoped, would become a major plantation crop in the South. The book provides plenty of the flavor, excitement, and danger of plant collecting. Michaux dined on bear and wild turkey, shivered through frosty nights under open skies, survived a shipwreck and capture by thieves, caught malaria in the U.S. and finally succumbed to the disease on Madagascar in 1802. Francois André Michaux continued the work of his father by twice returning to the 68 biography Vol. 12, No. 1 U.S. within the first decade of the nineteenth century to collect more plants, particularly forest trees with potential for reforestation and afforestation in France. Francois collected specimens of wood for testing and visited shipyards, furniture makers, home builders, and tanneries to learn more about the qualities of economically-important trees. Francois stressed the importance of studying the inter-relationships of plants and their biophysical environment, particularly with regard to understanding the distribution of species. Like his father, Francois decried the wanton destruction of American forests and the inefficient ways in which forest products were used. The Michauxs were clearly early ecologists and environmentalists. Fortunately, the Michauxs committed their research to writing. André wrote a superbly-illustrated natural history of American oaks and a flora of North America as well as useful articles, such...