82 THE CANADIAN BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. with enthusiasm, and to the complete satisfaction of the friends and patrons of the institution. Pursuing his botanical studies for more than a quarter of a century without assistance, he has become almost a complete master of that branch of knowledge, having no peer in industry or in the extent of practical knowledge in this direction, in Ontario, . In 1868 the Genesee College, New Tork, conferred on Professor Macoun the honorary degree of Master of Arts. He is a member of the Canadian Institute, Toronto, and a Fellow of the Linnsean- Society of London, Eng., the only man in Ontario receiving the latter honor. He has an introductory book on botany in press, which will be out before this book makes its appearance, and is also engaged on a manual of the botany of the St. Lawrence valley, to be published in 1880. He has already published a catalogue of the plants of the Dominion, 3,081 in all, of which 2,900 were his own collecting. He has lectured all over Ontario about the North-West Territories, and has done more to enlighten the public regarding their value than any man in the Dominion, For over twenty years he hastaken an active part in Teachers' Institutes ; has long been recognized as a leader in Ontario, in educational matters, and is as well known among botanists and other scientific men in the United States, and in several countries in Europe, as in Canada. At the World's Exposition, and Centennial of the United States, held at Philadelphia in 1876, he obtained the bronze medal for a Herbarium, and in 1878, at Paris, at a similar exhibition, a silver medal for Herbarium and Canadian medicinal plants. Professor Macoun has had, in his busy life, two episodes of which we must not fail to speak--episodes which he turned to the richest account in the investigation of natural science. In 1872 he accompanied the railway expedition, under Sandford Fleming, going from Lake Superior to Edmonton, on the Saskatchewan, with the main party, but was sent from this point by Mr. Fleming to examine the Peace River Pass, which, in that day, was known to only a few Hudson Bay officers. He and another gentleman and two Hudson Bay officers forced their way through a very difficult country, and reached Dunvegan, on the Peace Eiver, about the beginning of October. Here, owing to the lateness of the season, they were strongly advised to return. But being determined to push through at all hazards, they pursued their way, although the Hudson Bay officers returned down the river, not daring to face the winter in the Rocky Mountains. With great effort they reached the mountains by the 24th of October, and at once commenced a march of one hundred and fifty miles up a stream, whose waters were gradually drawing to the freezing point. Three days after they started the ground was covered with snow, and the river margin was frozen, but by the greatest exertions they reached Fort McLeod, in latitude 55°, by the 5th November, On the next night the river froze up, and in three days they were again on the march, accompanied by one man and three dogs, carrying their own provisions and bedding. They traveled for ninety miles over frozen lakes and rivers, with the thermometer most of the time 20° below zero, and reached Fort St. James on the 14th. Here