202 ARTHUR HENFREY 



apetala and ciliata it is hardly remarkable that nothing came 

 of it. 



An interesting minor feature of the Gazette was the reporting 

 of the proceedings of the various Botanical Societies throughout 

 the country. These show that a chronic state of intellectual 

 famine frequently obtained even at the leading societies 

 a state of which vestiges are still occasionally discernible. It 

 was no unusual occurrence at the Linnean even during the 

 period of Robert Brown's presidency for the meeting to be 

 regaled with long extracts from the commentaries on the 

 Hortus Malabaricus. In this respect however the record was 

 easily held by the now defunct Botanical Society of London, 

 which eked out its programme for a whole year with a com- 

 munication by a Mr D. Stock " On the Botany of Bungay, 

 Suffolk." Begun on the nth October, 1850, it only drew to 

 a conclusion on the 3rd October, 1851. There were other 

 attractive features in The Botanical Gazette on which space 

 does not allow me to dwell. 



The general impression gained, however, from a perusal of 

 the papers of that time is that they were refreshingly short, as 

 compared with our own day, and often very much to the point. 

 The recording of observations was rarely made the occasion 

 for a survey of the whole field of botany, and little trace was 

 discernible of the present habit of over-elaboration. 



The foregoing outline of Henfrey's activities shows that they 

 were devoted wholly to the spread of the Newer Botany in 

 this country. The means employed included the publication of 

 reviews and abstracts, the editing of translations of the more 

 notable books, the founding of journals, and the writing of 

 text-books. Moreover by his own investigations he kept close 

 touch with the modern work and was indeed the means of 

 corroborating and often materially advancing many of the 

 larger problems before putting them into general circulation 

 in this country. 



And yet, in spite of this complete devotion of his life to 

 the cause, the New Botany found no permanent place in this 

 country till twenty years after Henfrey's death. 



Botanically speaking, the organisation and rise of taxonomy 



