The Sage of Biscayne Bay 71


 Simpson had so often bemoaned the fate of the wild in the path
of burgeoning man that one cannot avoid reading this as hope tem-
porarily overcoming his more usual deep concern for the environ-
ment, as expressed in this line from the first chapter: "Mankind
everywhere has an insane desire to waste and destroy the good and
beautiful things that nature has lavished upon him."43 Of his four
South Florida books, only Ornamental Gardening in Florida reaches
out directly to the reader with the practical approach of giving advice
on gardening in the state, especially in reference to identifying and
recommending suitable native and introduced trees and plants.
 Simpson's other books essentially leave civilization to its own
follies and retreat to the wilderness. He announced in In Lower
Florida Wilds:

 I know of no greater pleasure than that of a naturalist or collec-
 tor, in the woods, the swamps, along the streams or upon the
 open seashore. I pity those whose entire life and energies are
 devoted to money making, who have never revelled in the
 beauty and freedom of the great out-of-doors.... Here is opened
 wide the great book of nature, the gleaming page filled with
 wonders. Here too, is health, peace, and contentment, and a
 new life for the soul cloyed with the artificialities of an over
 stimulated civilization."

 According to one reviewer of In Lower Florida Wilds: "Dr. Simpson
is so big a man that the luxury of naturalness is his by right. The value
of his work to Florida cannot be computed."45 Thomas Barbour, writing
in That Vanishing Eden: "The best account of the Keys with which
I am acquainted is in Charles Torrey Simpson's In Lower Florida
Wilds. Simpson ... was thoroughly endued with the spirit of poetry,...
and was a first-class plantsman. He exerted an extraordinary influ-
ence on the lower Florida community and has left a treasured memory
behind him."46
 Most often the naturally gregarious Simpson opened the great
book of nature with one or several companions. In reference to his
first visit to Long Key, he relates in In Lower Florida Wilds:

 My neighbor, John Soar, and Wilson Popenoe of the Depart-
 ment of Agriculture, and I took a two days' tramp over Long