36 niOC'EEDlNGS OF THC 



and work found in ofllcial circles, whilst he was not less esteemed 

 by his numerous friends for his genial and loyal character. 



[0. S.] 



Wn.r-iAM Ambrose Cf.atuce was born at Hinckley, Leicestershire, 

 on the 6tb February, 1841, the son of the Kev. T. A. Clarke, of 

 Sta|)leton. lie was articled to a Chippenham solicitor, and after- 

 wards practised in that calling in the town. He became interested 

 in botany, and formed acquaintance with the liev. T. A. Preston 

 of Marlborough College, helping in the ' Flora of Marlborough,' 

 issued in 1888. In 1892 he married and moved to Oxford, where 

 he spent the rest of his life. 



In 1892 onwards he published in the ' Journal of Botany ' the 

 first records of British Plants, which was issued as a volume in 

 1890, followed by a second revised edition in 1900. 



He was elected a Fellow on the 4th December, 1890, but 

 \\ithdrew on the 7th Februarv, 1901 ; later he was again elected 

 4th ^larch, 1909. 



The writer is indebted to the account of Mr. Clarke given in 

 the ' Journal of Botany ' for May 1911 for most of the facts above 

 given. [B. D. J.] 



Theodoee Cooke, C.I.E., M.A., LL.D., M.I., F.L.S., was bora 

 }i.t Tramore, Co. VV^aterford, Ireland, in 183(3, as the eldest son 

 of the Kev. J. Cooke. He was educated at Trinity College, 

 Dublin. After having graduated in 1859, he went to India as an 

 engineer in the service of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central 

 India Kailway. Five years later, in 18(35, he was appointed 

 Principal of the Civil Engineering College at Poona, or, as it was 

 afterwards, the Poona College of Science, and he continued in 

 this position until 1893, when he retired. During his tenure of 

 this post he also acted temporarily as Director of Public Instruc- 

 tion, Director of I^and Records and Agriculture of Bombay 

 Presidency, and as Dean of Faculty and member of the Syndicate 

 of the University of Bombay. From an early date he paid 

 careful attention to the flora of the presidency he lived in, and 

 brought together very considerable collections. AV'lien in 1891 

 the Botanical Survey of India was established, he was entrusted 

 with the survey of Western India. He soon conceived the plan of 

 writing a ' Flora of the Presidency of Bombay ' ; but it was not 

 until 1898 that his proposal was approved by the Secretary of 

 State for India. He was by that time 02, an age when a much 

 younger man might have shrunk from undertaking such a task, 

 particularly if it was, as in Cooke's case, his first attempt at 

 writing a flora, or in fact anything botanical. But Cooke had, in 

 a quiet way, built up for himself a knowledge of the plants of his 

 area which was surprising even to his friends when it disclosed 

 itself. This, combined with an admirable method and regularity 

 of work, was the foundation of the remarkable success of his 

 Flora, the first part of which appeared in 1901. After that, part 



