262 CHARLES CARDAliE BABINGTON. 



first edition appeared. Before Babington had any olficial connection 

 with the "University," his influence was apparent in many di- 

 rections. He took an important rather than a prominent part — 

 for he was always of a retiring disposition — in numerous projects 

 which space will not allow us to enumerate here, and was generally 

 helpful. A resident of more than forty years testifies that he was 

 then "the central figure among those in Cambridge who took delight 

 in Natural History : and his simple character and keen interest in 

 nature were very attractive to younger men who had similar likings. 

 He certainly did more, in my time, than any one else to promote the 

 study of Natural Science in the University." As an archaeologist 

 he took a high position; he published papers on "Ancient Cam- 

 bridgeshire" and the history of the chapel of his college. 



In 1836 a society called the Eay Club was formed, to take 

 the place of Henslow's Friday evening parties: in this Babington 

 took a leading part, and he was the last survivor of its founders. In 

 1844 the Kay Society was established ; Babington was on the 

 council, and many of the publications, such as the Memorials of 

 Fitly and the volume of his Correspondence, owe much to his help : 

 the preface to the latter says that he had "looked over the proof 

 sheets, given the modern names of the plants referred to, and added 

 many valuable notes." In or about 1862, a Committee of the 

 British Association, consisting of Babington, Newbould, and J. E. 

 Gray, was appointed to prepare a report on the plants of Bay's 

 Synopsis Stirpium, but this, unfortunately, was never presented. 



The list of papers under Babington's name in the Royal Society's 

 Catalogue, which extend down to 1883, is 131, and several have 

 appeared since then in this Journal. His first paper, however, was 

 not botanical, but entomological ; it appeared in the Magazine of 

 Natural History for 1832, and enumerated certain "Additions to the 

 List of British Insects," among which are some beetles new to 

 science. He was an ardent student of insects, and at first his work 

 seems to have lain in that direction, as out of the first twelve papers 

 which he published, seven were entomological. But his last contri- 

 bution to entomology was the "Dytiscidse Darwinians," published 

 in the Entomological Society's Transactions for 1841-43, since which 

 time his published papers have been almost entirely botanical. A 

 large number of these appeared in the short-lived Botanical Gazette 

 (1849-51) and in the pages of this Journal, of which he has always 

 been a friend and supporter : the first article in our first volume 

 is from his pen, and his name appeared in our list of contributors 

 for 1891. Among papers calling for more especial mention may 

 be noted the "Revision of the Flora of Iceland,"* in which he 

 brought together with much care the results of previous investi- 

 gators, embodying with these his own observations made during 

 a brief visit in 1846. This and his visit to the Channel Islands were 

 the only occasions on which Babington left England. 



Besides the papers which stand in his name in the above- 

 mentioned Catalogue, Babington described several plants for the 



* Journ. Linn. Soc. xi. 282-348. 



