Pharmacologist, chemist and botanist, Durand was born and educated in France where he fought under Napoleon Bonaparte. Coming to America in 1816, he lived most of his later life in Philadelphia where he was active in the Academy of Natural Sciences, directing the botanical committee for many years. His interest in botany was kindled through an unfortunate transaction with Rafinesque who supplied a poor collection of American plants to Durand's friend in Paris. Feeling responsible for such a meager return on the money paid from Paris, Durand got busy and collected a fine herbarium for the Parisian. Durand's personal herbarium, including representatives from Nuttall's collections was deposited at the Paris Museum of the Jardin des Plantes in 1868. Besides many publications in Botany, he wrote memoirs of Thomas Nuttall, Elisha Kane and André Michaux. The present collection consists of three indexes to Herbarium Boraeli-Americanum, and to Short's Herbaria, one of North American and European plants, the other of West Indian and Central American species. Also a list of Schweinitz' herbarium and some notes and biographical papers are here filed.