1884.] OBITUARY NOTICES. 71 



Obituary. 



TEE LATE MR. GEORGE BENTHAM. 



ON" the 10th Septemljer last this Nestor of English botanists and 

 arborists passed from earth ; his old friend and fellow- 

 worker, Sir Joseph Hooker, was present at the deathbed. A writer 

 in Land and Water aptly says : — 



" Almost unnoticed by the public, there has just passed away a 

 laborious student, whose works are a masterly record of the maturity 

 of the science of vegetable life, through which all animal life is 

 sustained and energized. George Bentham's life dated from the 

 commencement of this century. Nephew and literary assistant of 

 that extraordinary worker, Jeremy Bentham, assiduous helper of 

 his father. Sir Samuel Bentham, in his persevering fight against 

 naval incompetency and maladministration, George Bentham lived a 

 full life before becoming absorbed in botany, and even made a 

 notable discovery in logic, which was long considered due to Sir 

 William Hamilton. His early life gave him a remarkably varied 

 experience. He took full advantage of his father's stay in St. 

 Petersburg, from 1805—7, to lay the foundation of an almost match- 

 less knowledge of European languages ; and a prolonged residence 

 and travel in France from 1814 to 1826 made that country his 

 second home, and many of its foremost intellects his attached 

 friends. Walter Savage Landor, Talleyrand, and Humboldt were 

 among the intimate visitors at the Benthams' in Paris, and the 

 bright boy eagerly sat at their feet, and was the recipient of special 

 notice from them and many others, such as to iix him in a steady 

 course of mental develoj)ment. These remarks are but brief 

 exemplifications of the kind of early life which resulted in one of 

 the most patient, thoughtful, and wisely-spent careers on record. 

 Systematic botanist though he was — and the title would to most 

 persons be but a sign of a dry and distasteful pursuit — every 

 accomplishment and stimulus of his youth was beneficial to, and 

 was brought to bear upon the great achievements of his life. The 

 story of Bentham's first plunge into botany is very interesting. 

 Following the example of liis uncle, he had already been tabulating 

 many subjects in an analytical plan, and liad l^egun a work on 

 physical geography, respecting which he received advice from the 

 great Humboldt. During the extended travels of the Benthams, the 

 lad one morning took up a copy of De Candolle's French Flora, 



