1 88 1-2.] BOTANICAL LETTERS. 353 



which had been the solace of what might have been a painful 

 existence ; — and he begged me, if I knew of any research 

 which could be aided by a grant of a few hundreds of pounds, 

 to let him know, as it would be a delight to him to feel that 

 he was helping in promoting the progress of science. He 

 informed me at the same time that he was making the same 

 suggestion to Sir Joseph Hooker and Professor Huxley with 

 respect to Botany and Zoology respectively. I was much 

 impressed by the earnestness, and, indeed, deep emotion, with 

 which he spoke of his indebtedness to Science, and his desire 

 to promote its interests." 



Sir Joseph Hooker was asked by my father " to take into 

 consideration, with the aid of the botanical staff at Kew and 

 the late Mr. Bentham, the extent and scope of the proposed 

 work, and to suggest the best means of having it executed. 

 In doing this, Sir Joseph had further the advantage of the 

 great knowledge and experience of Professor Asa Gray, of 

 Cambridge, U.S.A., and of Mr. John Ball, F.R.S." * 



The plan of the proposed work having been carefully 

 considered, Sir Joseph Hooker was able to confide its elabo- 

 ration in detail to Mr. B. Daydon Jackson, Secretary of the 

 Linnean Society, whose extensive knowledge of botanical 

 literature qualifies him for the task. My father's original idea 

 of producing a modern edition of Steudel's ' Nomenclator ' 

 has been practically abandoned, the aim now kept in view is 

 rather to construct a list of genera and species (with references) 

 founded on Bentham and Hooker's ' Genera Plantarum.' The 

 colossal nature of the work in progress at Kew may be esti- 

 mated by the fact that the manuscript of the ' Index ' is at 

 the present time (1887) believed to weigh more than a ton. 

 Under Sir Joseph Hooker's supervision the work goes steadily 

 forward, being carried out with admirable zeal by Mr. Jackson, 

 who devotes himself unsparingly to the enterprise, in which, 



* ' Journal of Botany,' loc. cit. 

 VOL. III. 2 A 



