588 president's address. 



and for the years 1845. 1851 and 1853, the numbers are 184, 133, 93 (there are no 

 records for 1844 and 1852) ; total, 380(i. These inelude seeds for the orchard and 

 kitchen-garden, as well as for the flower-garden. Some species ai'e not named. 

 The seeds were received from England, Madeira, Mauritius, India (Ciilcutta, 

 Madras, Neilgherry Hills), China. Java, East Indies, Brazil, Bolivia, Chili, Val- 

 paraiso, Tahiti, Sandwich Island'*, Society Islands, Cape of Good Hope, Australia 

 (seeds of native plants from many localities). Van Dieman's Land, New Zealand, 

 and Norfolk Island. W. S. Macleay brought with him seeds of 89 species from 

 England; and of 107 species (including tive species of Erica, five of Leucadendron, 

 and six of Protea) from the Cape of Good Hope. 



These records are of interest as conti'ibutions to the early horticultural annals 

 of New South Wales It is worth mentioning that the Botanic Gardens in Sydney 

 were first opened to the public in 1831, and on Sundays in 1838. 



Taking into account Alexander Macleay's efforts to foster horticulture in the 

 early days, as represented by the foregoing records of his efforts to obtain plants 

 and seeds, and also that the garden was in charge of an expert gardener, Mr. 

 Hendei'son, it is not sui-prisiug that visitors were delighted with what they saw, 

 when the garden was well established and at its best. Of some of these, of a later 

 date than those already mentioned, there are records. 



The first is a very brief luitice of Allan Cunningham's third visit to Elizabeth 

 Bay, in a letter to Heward. dated November lOth. 1838: "How fine GreviUea 

 rohuata (forty feet high) is at this time [in the Botanic Gardens], and at Mr, 

 Macleay's at Elizabeth Bay, it is a mass of orange blossoms [Hooker's London 

 Journ.. Bot., Vol. i., p. 286] . 



H.M.SS. "Erebus" and "Terror," under the command of Captain James 

 Clark Ross, visited Sydney in 1841, their stay lasting from July 7th to August 

 5th. Dr. .Joseph Dalton Hooker was Assistant Surgeon and Botanist attached to 

 the "Erebus." The following brief notice of this visit from "An account of the 

 Voyage of the Erebus and Terror" by his father, based on his letters sent home 

 during the voyage, which appeared in the London Journal of Botany" [Vol. ii., p. 

 272, 1843] — "A short time only was allowed here [Hobart, after the return from 

 the Antarctic] for tiie needful refreshment and rei)airs, when the 'Erebus' and 

 'Terror' sailed for Sydney, where numerous excureions were made and plants col- 

 lected, though few of these could have the charm of novelty; and after much kind- 

 ness received from Messrs. M'Leay (father and son) they then pursued their 

 course to the Bay of Islands, New Zealand." 



The recent publication of the "Life and Letters of Sir .Joseph Dalton Hooker, 

 O.M., G.S.I.. ba-sed on materials collected and aiTunged by Lady Hooker; by 

 Leonard Huxley" (lfll8), is of very g'reat value, not only from the intrinsic in- 

 terest of the book, but because it supplements and completes the set of the three 

 biographies which relate to the inauguration of modern ideas of evolution, namely 

 "The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin. Edited by his son, Francis Darwin" 

 (Second Edition, 1887), and the "Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley. 

 By his son, Leonard Huxley" (1st Edition, 1000"). This gives fuller particulars 

 about Hookers visit to Sydney, tliough nothing is said about the numerous excur- 

 sions and the collecting of plants nor are the Botanic Gardens mentioned. The 

 following extract [Vol. i., p. 120] contains the earliest reference to Elizabeth Bay 

 House known to me : "From Tasmania, a short visit was paid to Sydney in connec- 

 tion with the magnetic observatory, la-sting from .July 7th to August 5,1841. Syd- 



