3006 MR. G. BENTHAM ON THE AUTHORS' JOINT AND 
scientifie botany, or at any rate readily defer to them on consi- 
deration. I saw that there were many natural orders in which I 
should, alone, severely miss his great experience in the study of 
living tropical and southern extratropical vegetation and his 
facilities for availing himself of the treasures of the Kew plant- 
houses and museum, whilst there were other orders, especially 
those whieh comprise very numerous small genera, the almost 
mechanical details of which would require more persevering and 
uninterrupted work in the herbarium and library than Hooker's 
official and other duties would always allow him to carry on. 
I therefore readily agreed to his proposal; and after much de- 
liberation and consultation with botanical friends in whose 
judgment we had great confidence, we matured our plans, to 
which we have adhered during the quarter of a century which 
the elaboration of our ‘ Genera Plantarum’ has required. 
We necessarily divided the orders between us for their work- 
ing up in detail; but we always consulted together when any 
doubt or difficulty occurred; and the ordinal characters, general 
observations, and subdivisions and generic arrangements pre- 
pared by each of us were almost invariably submitted to the 
other in manuscript for study and comment before being finally 
revised for press. When the printing commenced, the first 
proofs were carefully read through by both of us, as well as 
by our friend the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, who kindly undertook to 
go over them chiefly for their latinity, in which we both of us felt 
deficient. These proofs were again gone through by the one of 
us who had specially worked up the order, in order to check the 
references, to which process we paid special attention. The 
revises were read by one, and very frequently by both, of us 
before finally releasing them for press. 
With regard to the repartition of the Orders, those of the first 
volume, the Polypetale, were pretty equally divided between us. 
Whilst I took the first few orders, Hooker worked up the Cru- 
ciferse, Capparidez, and Resedacex ; and I followed him with the 
remainder of the Thalamiflorz, whilst he elaborated the whole of 
the long series of Disciflore with the exception of the Lines, 
Humiriacez, Geraniacez, and Olacinez, which had fallen to my 
lot. In the Calyciflore I naturally took up the Leguminosse, 
with which I was already very familiar, and Hooker all the re- 
maining orders except the Myrtaceæ, Umbelliferz, and Araliacesm. 
The first part of the second volume was chiefly taken up by 
