470 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec. 



santly to describe their numerous representatives, and interpret 

 their singular structure. It took him ten years to work out ' The 

 Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants,' and another ten years 

 to complete various memoirs on these plants, which he published 

 under the name of ' Folia Orchidacea.' 



The writings of Dr. Lindley form quite a library by themselves. 

 There are amongst them both elementary books, and works inten. 

 ded merely for leading men of science. His ' Fossil Flora of Great 

 Britain* has endeared him to geologists, and his various works on 

 gardening to horticulturists. Perhaps the most widely known of 

 all his works is ' The Vegetable Kingdom,' which appeared in 1846, 

 and gives a condensed account of the structure, geographical distri- 

 bution and uses of plants, arranged according to the Natural sys- 

 tem as understood by him. It was an amplification of his earlier 

 attempts in the same direction, and has been found extremely use- 

 ful. Notwithstanding that its general arrangement of the Natural 

 Orders has never been followed by any botanist, it would be diffi- 

 cult to name a work which has more advanced the cause Dr. Lind- 

 ley had so much at heart, than this book. When it first appeared, 

 it was stereotyped, and the new editions are merely the old matter 

 with some cancels and supplementary pages. " I can do nothing 

 more with it," we heard him say a few years ago; " I am getting 

 too old to be able to sit up half of the nights as I used to do for- 

 merly ; and I must leave it to younger men to finish what I have 

 begun." He was right ; he was no longer able to sit up half the 

 ni°lit deeply engaged in study. As it was, he had worked too 

 hard, and overstrained his brain. His memory , which had always 

 been most retentive, began to fail ; and he suddenly found that he 

 must give up all mental labor at least for a time. There was a 

 slight improvement after he had enjoyed some months of undistur- 

 bed rest, but it soon became painfully evident to all that the 

 strength of this mental giant was broken, that Lindley had laid 

 down his powerful pen, never to take it up again. He had to 

 give up his connection with the Horticultural Society altogether, 

 and resign the Professorship of Botany at University College, 

 which he had filled for many years. He died of apoplexy on 

 Wednesday, the 1st inst., at his residence on Acton Green, deeply 

 regretted by a large circle of friends. 



Dr. Lindley was a member of most scientific societies in all parts 

 of the world, and his name is held dear wherever science is culti- 

 vated and true genius appreciated. — London Athenceum. 



