178 



HA RD WICKE' S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



The "Annals," it should be said, had a special 

 reason for backing up the subject of this notice. By 

 arrangement the Botanical Society of Edinburgh had 

 entered into an agreement by which the more 

 valuable papers should appear in the "Annals" a 

 few weeks after they were read. The Society was in 

 several respects the gainer by this plan. Mr. Hassall 

 wrote a letter, which appears in the "Annals" of 

 February 1846, answering some of the objections, and 

 explaining certain points^to which exceptions had been 

 taken. It was a false move. The "damning with 

 faint praise " was infinitely preferable to the 

 " crusher " which appeared in the following or 

 March issue. This time the reviewer does not spare 

 him, and declares that Mr. Hassall should have been 

 " well satisfied when he reflects how plentifully he 

 has appropriated to himself the work of others." In 

 consequence of this decidedly plain-speaking an action 

 for libel was threatened, but it did not get beyond 

 this stage. 



When a monograph of the Desmidese was decided 

 upon, Mr, Ralfs wrote to botanists in various parts 

 of the world. And now another very extraordinary 

 incident occurred which is well worth recording. 

 Kutzing, an eminent German botanist, and Brebbi- 

 son, an equally distinguished Frenchman, both wrote 

 to Mr. Ralfs, unknown to each other, at the same 

 time, each proposing to write a work on the Desmids, 

 and the three letters were actually in transit simul- 

 taneously ! It seems almost incredible that three 

 botanists in as many parts of Europe should have 

 thought of writing a book on an obscure subject, and 

 of announcing that fact within a few hours of each 

 other. Such, however, was the case. But both 

 immediately wrote to Mr. Ralfs, not only renouncing 

 their intention, but offering to assist him in his under- 

 taking. Mr. Ralfs, who has resided principally at 

 Penzance since November 1837, at once commenced 

 putting his material into something like order, and 

 hunting after new species. And it is remarkable, as 

 showing how unworked the subject was, that one-third 

 of the species which Mr. Ralfs describes in his book 

 were discovered after the prospectus was issued. 



"The British Desmidere " by John Ralfs, with 

 drawings by Edward Jenner, A.L.S., and dedicated 

 to W. Borrer, F.R.S., appeared in 1848, There 

 were twenty-five plates illustrating the 134 species 

 described in the text, which were comprised in the 

 twenty-one genera of which the family was then 

 made up. Besides an analysis of the genera, there 

 was another of the species, and a highly interesting 

 introduction of forty-five pages. The list of sub- 

 scribers is one of the most influential that had up to 

 then appeared in any book, and offers a striking 

 contrast to that which appeared in Mr. Hassall's 

 work. Mr. Ralfs' list of 306 included all the leading 

 scientific institutes of the day, and such men as 

 G. A. Walker-Arnott, J. H. Balfour, C. E. Broome, 

 \V. B. Carpenter, C. G. B. Daubeny, G. Dickie, 



R. K. Greville, A. Henfrey, J. S. Henslow, W. J. 

 Hooker, J. D. Hooker, W. A. Leighton, and John 

 Lindley. The success and universal approval of Mr. 

 Ralfs' labours were immediate, and perhaps seldom has- 

 an author received letters of approbation from so many 

 and unexpected quarters. The care and accuracy of 

 the text, the high-toned character of the preface, and 

 the exceptional fidelity and beauty of the plates, even 

 more than justified the expectations of the subscribers. 

 It is also worthy of note that the book is now worth 

 about five times its original commercial value ; that 

 its utility is further proved by the fact that it is placed 

 in the "Gallery" of the British Museum Reading- 

 Room, and that it is still an indispensable book to 

 the student of the Desmids. Scarcely any scientific 

 books possess a practical value nearly half a century 

 after publication ; but we have here a very distinct 

 exception to the general rule. 



When Pritchard was contemplating a fourth 

 edition of his " Infusoria," he requested Mr. Ralfs 

 to write the section on Desmids. This resulted in 

 the valuable, section in the i86i issue of Pritchard's- 

 book. The editor in his preface acknowledges the 

 aid of Mr. Ralfs, "whose name is so intimately 

 identified with the knowledge of these organisms." 



But apart from his writings on the Desmids and 

 Diatoms, Mr. Ralfs' work has been of a chiefly local 

 interest. His " Flora of West Cornwall," in MS. in 

 the Penzance Library, has occupied him many years, 

 and we can only hope that he may be spared to> 

 complete it. The "Transactions of the Penzance 

 Natural History and Antiquarian Society," of which 

 he has been president, contain very many of his 

 papers. Readers of Darwin's " Insectivorous Plants '* 

 will also recall the great naturalist's graceful reference 

 to some facts supplied him by Mr. Ralfs. A very 

 nearly complete catalogue of his works and papers 

 will be found in Boase and Courtney's " Bibliotheca 

 Cornubiensis." 



Mr. Ralfs has been a familiar figure in Penzance 

 for over half a century ; and the present writer is- 

 glad of an opportunity of putting on record a few of 

 the numerous reminiscences with which Mr. Ralfs- 

 has favoured him during several years' close personal 

 intercourse. Mr. Ralfs' sitting-room is quite in ac- 

 cordance with the usual notions of a naturalist's den. 

 Piles of papers, which contain specimens of all sorts, 

 on one side, are " counter-balanced " by an " admired 

 disorder" of books and pamphlets on the other. 

 Plates of decayed and decaying fungi are on every 

 hand, and little dishes with evil-looking — and not 

 always particularly fragrant — weeds, at all times 

 present. The delightful botanising excursions in the 

 rich neighbourhood of Penzance, and the many enter- 

 taining chats and smokes in Mr. Ralfs' pleasant, if 

 somewhat varied, " den," will always occasion pleasant 

 retrospections to those who have been privileged 

 with the friendship and company of Mr. Ralfs. 



It is no exaggeration to say that every distinguished 



