DEATH OF MR. GILBERT H. HICKS. 



In the death of Gilbert H. Hicks, First Assistant Botanist and 

 Seed Expert of the Department of Agriculture, not only have the 

 seed-testing interests of the country sustained a loss, but many Amer- 

 ican botanists have been deprived of a noble-minded and true-hearted 

 friend. Mr. Hicks was never a seeker after notoriety, or publicity, 

 and so it happened that he was not widely known beyond the sphere 

 of his own work. But among his friends and associates he was held 

 in respect and affection for his cheerful presence, his unfailing good- 

 nature and his uniform kindliness of heart. He was a man of remark- 

 ably sound judgment and sturdy cominon-sense, a trait which made 

 his advice of great value. 



Mr. Hicks was a native of Michigan, having been educated in the 

 State University and in the Michigan Agricultural College. Before 

 adopting botany as a profession he had several years' experience in 

 railroading, and afterwards became a successful teacher. He received an 

 appointment in the Department of Agriculture early in 1894, and has re- 

 mained in Washington since, having in these few years built up the work 

 of his department to such an extent that it occupies prominent rank. 



His interest in the Asa Gray Chapter of the Agassiz Association 

 was well known, and for a number of years he had been one of the 

 editors of the Asa Gray Bulletin. About two years ago he assumed 

 the leading control of the latter journal, and greatly enlarged its scope. 

 He was one of the founders of the Washington Botanical Club, and 

 was furthermore a prominent member in the Biological Society, the 

 Mycological Club, and the Botanical Seminar of that city, and also of 

 the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 



Although Mr. Hicks' special interest in botany lay in morphology, 

 histology and physiology, he was too broad-minded a man to depre- 

 ciate the efforts of his fellow workers, and never failed to keep up his 

 interest in the results attained by the systematists, or in matters of 

 general botanical interest. At the time of his death he had in prepa- 

 ration a work on Seeds for the MacMillan Company, the drawings and 

 text for which were in a large measure completed. 



Number 10 of the contributions from the Botanical Department 

 of the Iowa State College of Agriculture embraces three papers: 

 " Comparative Anatomy of the Corn Caryopsis," by Prof. Pammel; 

 " Histology of the Corn Leaf," by Prof. Combs; and " Studies on the 

 Seeds and Fruits of Berberidaceae," by Pammel, Burnip and Thomas. 

 The articles are all copiously illustrated and are of much value along 

 the lines of the study of internal structure. 



