Ninth Annual Meeting. 75 



PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



The following is the presidential address delivered at the annual 

 meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute at 

 Christchurch, 28th January, 1912, by Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, F.L.S., 

 F.Z.S., Curator of the Auckland Museum : — 



Gentlemen of the Board of Governors, — It is clearly my first duty, as it is 

 my sincere pleasure, to express my cordial thanks for the confidence you have shown 

 in placing me in the responsible and honourable position of your President. And 

 although I fear that this confidence is not so well founded as it should be, and 

 although I am fully sensible of many shortcomings and deficiencies, I feel assured 

 that I can rely on the cordial co-operation and support and the lenient judgment of 

 the members of this Board. But for this belief I should indeed have hesitated before 

 assuming duties and responsibilities for the discharge of which I possess no special 

 qualifications. 



Before proceeding to address you in reference to the work and progress of the 

 Institute, it is my painful duty to advert for a few moments to the loss science has 

 sustained through the death of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, the greatest of British 

 botanists, the senior honorary member of this Institute, and the man who above all 

 others has left the most enduring mark on the history of science in New Zealand. 

 This is neither the time nor the place to offer a formal eulogy on one who for more 

 than seventy years was an active worker in the field of botanical science, and whose 

 contributions thereto are renowned throughout the whole world. All I can do here 

 is to make some general remarks on his life and career, with special reference to 

 their connection with New Zealand. 



In 1839, Hooker, then a young man of twenty-two, left England as assistant 

 surgeon and botanist to the Antarctic expedition of Sir J. C. Koss. During this 

 memorable voyage, which lasted nearly four years, he collected the material and 

 made the observations which after his return enabled him to prepare the " Flora 

 Antarctica," the "Flora of New Zealand," and the "Flora of Tasmania." The 

 six volumes comprising these works would alone have made the reputation of any 

 naturalist ; and upon them, as a broad and secure foundation, rests all subsequent 

 work on the botany of the temperate portion of the Southern Hemisphere. Every 

 New Zealand botanist owes a debt of gratitude for these magnificent volumes, 

 wonderful in point of view of accuracy, originality of treatment, and fullness of 

 detail. And the subsequently issued " Handbook of the New Zealand Flora," in 

 which Hooker included all fresh matter received up to the time of publication, made 

 no inconsiderable addition to the already heavy load of indebtedness. 



Hooker's other botanical work has not the same intimate connection with New 

 Zealand, although its magnitude and importance are indisputable. All I need 

 mention here are his memoirs on Nepenthes, Wehvitschia, and Balanophora; his 

 papers and addresses on geographical distribution; his monumental "Flora of 

 British India"; and, in co-operation with Mr. Bentham, the invaluable "Genera 

 Plantarum." A full list of his contributions to systematic botany would fill many 

 pages. 



As Director of Kew, Hooker was able to use his unequalled knowledge of plants 

 and great powers of organization to the very best advantage. The gardens were 

 raised to a level never before attained, and were made the centre of the botanical 

 work of the Empire, and the means of transmitting plants of economic value to 

 all parts of the world. It has been well said that his connection with Kew added 

 another great reputation to the great reputations he had already built up. 



Whatever honours the scientific world could offer, those Sir Joseph Hooker has 

 received. A member of almost all the chief learned societies in the world, the 

 recipient of medals and decorations too numerous to particularize, the honour of 

 knighthood, and the distinction of being selected as one of the first holders of the 

 Order of Merit : it cannot be said that his labours have been without recognition. 

 But his scientific work is the best monument to his memory, and will assuredly 

 carry his name down to future ages. At the close of this address I propose to ask 

 you to pass a resolution expressing our sense of the great and serious loss science 

 has sustained in his death. 



On the 30th January, 1908, the Board of Governors resolved that at each annual 

 meeting the President should deliver an address. No theme or subject is particular- 

 ized in the motion ; but as the meeting is held primarily for business purposes, and 



