II. !i. w. I'lAKsoN. 353 



lo shorten his lift.', so that in a \cr\- real sense he saeri!iee(l hini- 

 selt to Seience. ilis collections ha\c lieen most \alual)le. but 

 it is one of the saddest thins^N connected with iV'arson's career 

 that he was niU able to reaj) the full reward. Some of the 

 ec(>lo£jical note-- which lu- made dm'ini;- recent x^isits t<» Suuth- 

 A\'est Africa were particularly im])ortani and interestin<j;-, while 

 Systematic Hotany was enriched In the arldition of many new 

 .s])ecies. Me never lost sii^ht of tlu' claim- of Kconomic Ijotany, 

 and was on the outlot)k for new fodder jjlants. useful succu- 

 lents. >and-l)inders. etc. hi --uch jjapers as " Traxels of a 

 l-Jotanist in South-West Africa" and " Le X'aillant's (Irotto at 

 Heerenlojjcement "" Pearson showed that his interests were not 

 Confined to hotany, but he was. as Professor Seward has re- 

 marked in an obituary notice in Xatiirc. " an exjilorer of the best 

 type."' 



All this work was beins^ done bv Pearson during- tlie time 

 when his teachino^ work nniM have been heav\. ( )f the enthu- 

 sia-^m which he inspired in his i)ui)ils 1 have already s])oken. 

 TA en to mention the successes j^ained b\' them here and overseas 

 Would make this article much too lont;'. One woubl ima_2^ine 

 that I'earson would ha\e been content with the accomi)lishing 

 ^)\ all that has been outlined above, but he himself latterly looked 

 ]ierhap> U])on the establishment of a National Botanic Gardens 

 at Kirstenbosch — wdiich he had warmly advocated in his Presi- 

 dential address to Section C of the .Association in lyio — as out- 

 wcig^hini;^ in importance exerythinjr else. It is not too much to 

 sa\- that no t^ne 1)Ut Pearson could ha\e done what has been done 

 in this direction. He was faced with countless difificulties : he 

 knew how to overcome them. He knew that Kirstenbosch 

 could be made a .sfreat national asset: he convinced others of this, 

 and he i)roceeded to show how it could be done. In a vear or 

 two he had accomplished wonders, but he was., not spared to 

 comidete the work. It is for all tho^e who have the interests 

 of Science at heart to see that it is comiileted. 



Less than a vear before he died he was elected a Fellow of 

 the Royal Society, a well-deserved recos:nition of his services to 

 Science: he appreciated the honour all the more because, throusjh 

 him. Science in South Africa had been rewarded. 



.\s to his personal (jualities, no one wdio knew him coitld 

 fail to appreciate his charm of manner: he was direct and truth- 

 ful, f^enerous to his fellow botanists, and he understood 

 thoroucjhlv the value of co-operation. The country has been 

 fortunate in i)o?sessinjr the services of such a man. who in a 

 short time had accomplished so nnich : unforttmate in losins^- him 

 at such an earh' ao^e. with the promise of so much of value to 

 come. 



The followintj is a list of Professor Pearson's published 

 works : — 



I. "Some observations on U'l'licifsrlua uiimbiHs." J'hil. I raiis. h'oy. 

 Soc, Scries P.. 198. p)). 26.^-.^04. pis.. 18-22 (1906). 



