JOHN BALL, F.R.S. 360 



America.'* In my judgment, for interest, vivid pictures of natural 

 phenomena, and charm of style, there are few works that equal 

 this, and hardly any that excel it. I place it confidently on my 

 shelves, near to Darwin's ' NaturaUst's Voyage.' My friend Mr. 

 Morris met Mr. Ball on the steamer at Barbados, and he kindly 

 gives me the following pleasing reminiscence of the encounter : — 

 '*As an instance of the influence which Mr. Ball exercised over 

 those who came within his reach, I call to remembrance that while 

 on the voyage to South America his ship touched at Barbados, 

 where he went ashore. He was accompanied by a party of young 

 men, who never before had taken much notice of plant-life. On 

 this occasion, however, sharing the enthusiasm of Mr. Ball, they 

 became ardent collectors of everything likely to be of use to him. 

 In spite of the tropical heat, they did not return to the ship until it 

 was about to sail, and they came back laden with specimens of all 

 kinds, proud to share in Mr. Ball's pursuits. His charm of manner 

 was irresistible, and he made friends wherever he went." This 

 journey supplied the material for two important papers contributed 

 to the Linnean Society : * Contributions to the Flora of North 

 Patagonia' (1884), and ' Contributions to the Flora of the Peruvian 

 Andes ' (1885). 



This too-brief sketch of a life of persistent and intelligent 

 activity will not allow me to go farther into details of Ball's work. 

 He was not a prolific writer of papers, though the number he 

 produced in English and foreign journals is not inconsiderable. 

 If he had a fault, it was that of excessive fastidiousness. He was 

 much esteemed by continental botanists, and, though thoroughly 

 imbued with modern English speculative ideas in biological science, 

 his mode of work in systematic botany was rather that of the older 

 continental school. 



Last year it was painfully evident to his friends that he was 

 failing in health. But no one foresaw more than the necessity of 

 his spending his winters abroad. He went in the late summer to 

 the Engadine ; there he became seriously ill. He made his way 

 with difficulty to Geneva for medical advice. His condition became 

 so alarming as to necessitate his immediate return to England. 

 He underwent an operation rather to palliate than to prolong 

 existence, and from this he never rallied. He died at his house, 

 10, Southwell Gardens, at midnight on Oct. 21st, and was buried 

 on Oct. 25th at the Catholic Church of St. Thomas, Walham Green. 

 He was Treasurer of the Philosophical Club. A few years before 

 his death he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Christ's College, 

 Cambridge. Recent changes in the University had given his old 

 college the power of conferring this distinction, which it had 

 previously conferred on Berkeley, and which both greatly prized. 



A man of independent means. Ball spent much of his time on 

 the Continent, or in travel, when not residing in London. His 

 singular charm of manner and disposition, as already remarked, 



* From Buenos Ayres Mr. Ball introduced into European gardens the fine 

 aquatic Sagittaria montevidensis (Bot. Mag. 6755). 



Journal o^ Botany.— Vol. 27. [Dec, 1889.] 3 8 



