WILLIAM AMBROSE CLARKE 169 



His bibliographical note on the dates of Curtis's Flora Londinensis 

 (Journ. Bot. 1895, 112) is a good example of his careful work, and 

 sums up all that is known on the subject. In 1901 he pubhshed 

 in the Journal (pp. 128-140) an interesting account of the pro- 

 gress of British botany in the nineteenth century, which showed 

 his familiarity with the literature of the period. One of his 

 interesting discoveries was the account of Eriocaulon septangulare 

 in an appendix to vol. ii. (p. 784 bis) of Withering's Arrangement 

 (1776) ; this had been overlooked and the name cited in Index 

 Kewensis (1796) and elsewhere as from the 3rd edition. The 

 plant had been named Nasmythia articulata by Hudson in 1778, and 

 Hudson's trivial, apparently the earliest, had been taken up by 

 recent writers, who called the plant E. articulatum. The restora- 

 tion of the name generally accepted gave Clarke much satisfaction. 

 Clarke largely collaborated with the Eev. E. S. Marshall in the 

 compilation of the tenth edition of the London Catalogue, and 

 he transcribed for publication the reprint of Linneeus's Flora 

 Anglica issued as a supplement to this Journal for 1909. 



During the later years of his life the state of his health com- 

 pelled frequent visits to health resorts, where the local botany 

 always interested him. His herbarium, though not large, con- 

 tained specimens of most of our British plants, the majority of 

 which he had seen in situ. An addition to these was Hypericum 

 duhium, which, although far from uncommon, Clarke had not 

 collected ; Mr. Druce took us to see it one Sunday afternoon last 

 summer, during the little jaunt referred to by him in this Journal 

 (p. 233). 



It was only during the last few years that I became personally 

 intimate with Clarke. " Week-ending " with friends at Iffley, I 

 had to go into Oxford to church, and afterwards not infrequently, 

 though not as often as I think both of us would have liked, 

 w^ent to him for luncheon. He was happy in the possession of 

 a wife who took an inteUigent interest in his pursuits ; both had 

 literary tastes (Clarke was a fine classical scholar), and an after- 

 noon spent in their company was a pleasant experience to look 

 back upon. Clarke was indeed one of the kindest of men, with a 

 keen sense of justice ; this latter prompted his last note in this 

 Journal (1909, 447) and he was not a little distressed at the storm 

 in a tea-cup which was raised by his well-intentioned intervention. 



Clarke became a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1890, but 

 subsequently withdrew ; he rejoined the Society in 1909. A good 

 and interesting correspondent, he will be missed by many botanical 

 friends as well as by the writer of this notice. 



James Britten. 



SHORT NOTES. 



A Boy Botanist. — Under the heading of "Botany," the Seventy- 

 seventh Annual Eeport of Bootham School (York) Natural His- 

 tory, Literary, and Polytcclinic Society, says: — "A. \V. Graveson 

 is again the botanist of the year, and his collection has now 



Journal of Botany. — Vol. 49. [May, 1911. j n 



