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LINNBAN SOCIETY OF LONDON". 33 



wishes bore fruit rapidly. He prosecuted his medical work^ and 

 obtained prizes in " I'ecole pratique" and in the hospitals. In 

 1855 he received the double degree of Doctor of Medicine and of ' 

 the Natural Sciences, issuing the same year for his doctorate 

 theses ' De la fatiiille des Aurantiacees' and ' Recherches sur la 

 famille des Euphorbiacees.' In 1858 he brought out his ' Etude 

 generale du groupe des Euphorbiacees,' a model of admirable work 

 of over 700 pages, with 27 plates of analyses of the flower and fruit ; 

 completing his survey of the order in his next venture, ' Mono- 

 graphie des Buxacees et des Stylocerees,' in the year following. 

 But his energetic nature and love of work prompted him to find 

 a wider channel for his studies ; in 1860 he began to publish 

 'Adansonia,' a periodical which ran to eleven volumes, and ceased 

 to appear in 1879. Even this did not satisfy him ; for in 18G7 

 appeared the first volume of his ' Histoire des Plantes,' with 

 designs by Eaguet. Undoubtedly this was his magnum opus, 

 which was nearly finished when hisde:\th occurred, the Orehidese 

 being the chief order still to be published in the fourteenth and 

 last volume. 



Volumes 1 and 2 were translated into English, but no more. 

 The arrangement was his own, and varied much from the Can- 

 dollean sequence which has been generally followed in this country. 

 The woodcuts were well chosen and well executed, the bibliography 

 and citations were ample; but the author was prone to combine 

 many genera which most botanists have agreed to keep separate : 

 for instance, he combined Galium with Rubia. 



The accumulation of the woodblocks needed for this work 

 prompted him to begin yet another publication, to " fill up his 

 evenings " as he once told the writer. The issue of his great 

 ' Dictionnaire de Botanique ' was begun in September 1876, and it 

 was intended to bring out a part every six weeks ; but after a few 

 numbers the intervals increased in length, sometimes more than 

 a year intervening between two successive parts, and the work 

 seemed likely to collapse. In 1885, however, it took renewed 

 energy, and was brought to a close in February 1892 : it must 

 be owned that the later portion was treated in a briefer fashion 

 than the early part. It forms four quarto volumes, the last being 

 a thin one, even when the coloured plates are bound in with it. 



In 1874 the ' Societe Linneenne de Paris ' was founded, and 

 Dr. Baillon became its first President, and so continued till 

 his death ; most of its ' Bulletin ' was Ijis work, the little sheets 

 of about 4 pages coming out at irregular intervals. 



Baillon's chief botanic disappointment was the refusal of the 

 Acadenue des Sciences to elect him a Member, it is said on the 

 instigation of Decaisne ; the iri'itation resulting from this led to 

 Baillon's publishing seyen centuries of Decaisne's errors in syste- 

 matic and descriptive botany, which embittered his relations 

 with many of the French botanists. 



His chief professorial work was as Professor of Medical 

 LIJVN. SOC. PIIOCEEDINGS. — SESSIOS" 1895-96. d 





