This Scottish born gardener, arriving in Philadelphia in 1883, later becoming a local nurseryman, for years attended the meetings of the Botanical Section of the Academy. He supervised the establishment of the Botanic Garden at the University of Pennsylvania, then became Curator of the Herbarium started by the Philadelphia Commercial Museum.

These papers consist of a “Catalog of the plants in the Botanic Garden” written in collaboration with the professor-in-charge, Dr. J. M. Macfarlane; various writings on the woods of Brazil and other areas; lists of duplicate plant specimens of northeastern United States offered in exchange by the Philadelphia Museum (later the Commercial Museum); and field notes taken on his botanical rambles. Four photographs, one of botanical collecting equipment of the time, complete the collection.