MICHAUX, André (1746-1802), a French botanist, best known for his works on the flora of North America and as a botanical traveller. In 1779 he spent some time botanizing in England, and in 1780 he explored Auvergne, the Pyrenees, and the north of Spain. In 1782 he was sent by the French Government on a botanical mission to Persia. His journey began unfavourably, as he was robbed by ∕ rabs of all his equipments except his books; but he gained influential support in Persia, having cured the shah of a dangerous illness. After two years he returned to France with a fine herbarium, and also introduced numerous Eastern plants into the botanic gardens of France. In 1785 he was sent by the French Government to North America, and travelled through Canada, Nova Scotia, and the United States as far west as the Mississippi. The outbreak of the French Revolution deprived him of means to continue his work in America, and in 1796 he returned to France. He was shipwrecked, and lost most of his collections on the voyage. In 1800 he went to Madagascar to investigate the flora of that island, and died there in 1802. His work as a botanist was chiefly done in the field, and he added largely to what was previously known of the botany of the East and of America. He also introduced many plants into European botanic gardens. He wrote two valuable works on North-American plants,—the Histoire des chênes de Γ Amérique Septentrionale (1801), with 36 plates, and the Flora Boreali-Americana (1803), 2 vols., with 51 plates....