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"For botanical or natural extracts, we refer to the Linnaean system, which is the international system for scientifically naming plants and animals, and lots of those names will be Latin-based," she said.

She was headmistress at Patapsco from 1841 to 1859, a time when rich girls were taught mostly drawing, elocution and how to be a wife, instead of the Linnaean plant classification system.

But to Ken Chaya, president of the Linnaean Society of New York, one of the city’s oldest birding organizations, Mr. Barrett’s account seems focused more on self promotion than protecting birds.

Though he was entirely self-taught, never learned Latin, and had scant understanding of Linnaean classifications, he was a prize plant collector, with an uncanny knack for finding and recognizing unknown species.

Collection records and skilled observations are recorded with disciplined adherence to the Linnaean system of taxonomy.