GRAY, Ase (1810-88). A celebrated Ameri can botanist. He was born at Paris, N. Y. In 1831 he obtained the degree of M.D., but soon relinquished the practice of medicine to become assistant to Torrey in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons. Owing to a long delay in the starting of the United States exploring expedition, of which Gray had been appointed botanist in 1834, he resigned this post in 1837. He became, in 1842, Fisher professor of natural history in Harvard University, a chair he filled until 1873, when he withdrew from active service to devote his remaining years to the study and care of his herbarium. From 1836, when he pub lished his first work, Elements of Botany, after wards enlarged, and in 1887 renamed the Bo tanical Text-Book, he was adding to the writings that from the beginning were considered authori tative in their respective lines—taxonomy and morphology. In the schools he is perhaps best known through his Lessons in Botany, which first appeared in 1857 and passed through many edi tions. How Plants Grow (1858) and how Plants Behave (1872) are admirable for awakening the interest of the young in the actualities of plant life.
Gray's taxonomic and descriptive work upon North American plants is important and exten sive. This work, coupled with his reviews of the floras of Japan and many of the Pacific islands, led him to the• following important conclusions with respect to the distribution of species: Spe cies have one origin; their distribution over the globe is due to physical causes; the flora of the north temperate zone is circumpolar; conclusions which, based on convincing data, place him in the front rank with the constructive philosophers of his day. He was one of the first American natu
ralists to espouse the cause of evolution. He maintained in Darwinia (New York, 1876) and A Free Examination of Darwin's Treatise on the Origin of Species, and Its American Reviewers (Cambridge, 1861), that the theory of natural se lection may be reconciled with the strictest creed; but contended, in opposition to Darwin, that `variation' is guided by an intelligent power. From 1863 to 1873 he was president of the Ameri can Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 1872 presi dent of the American Association for the Ad vancement of Science. He was a corresponding or honorary member of many European scientific societies. As a reviewer, biographer, and con tributor he was highly esteemed. To the Ameri can Journal of Science he was a constant edi torial adviser.
His philosophical papers have been collected and published in two volumes by Sargent. under the title Scientific Papers of Asa Gray (Boston, 1888). His other most widely known works are: Manual of Botany of the Northern United States, sixth edition by Watson (New York, 1889) ; Field, Forest, and Garden Botany, revised by Bailey (New York, 1895) ; Synoptical Flora of North America, begun as joint author with Tor rey in 1838 (vol. ii., New York, 1878), and con tinued by his successors after his death; Nat ural Science and Religion (1880).