xxxu CHARLES CARDALE BABINGTON. 



Virchow) and domestic. Disraeli's quip ' I am on the side of the angels,' speedily 

 cleared the air. For 'wit of one' was faithful mouthpiece to 'wisdom of many.' 

 A motley throng, three parts idlers, one part specialists, might question till dooms- 

 day of life and death, final causes and free will, and find itself ' in wandering mazes 

 lost.' Solventur risu tabulae. All breathed more freely when discharged from a 

 panel beyond their scope. The most enduring trophy of the fray is Dr. Kennedy's 

 sprightly epigram on the Ennian text : simia uvam similis tvkpissima bestia nobis. 



^^ Now known as Elodea Canadensis, described in his " Manual," 8th ed., p. 339, 

 as Anacharis Alsinastrunt. Belongs to the family of Hydrocharidaceae Hydrilleae. 

 Indigenous in North America, from Canada to the Southern States; observed 

 3 Aug. 1842 by Dr. George Johnston, in the Lake of Dunse Castle, Berwickshire; 

 in North Germany it wrought mischief to navigation and water-mills and nett- 

 ing in the Spree, and other rivers. It has proved perhaps less baneful than was feared 

 by those who called it a 'Vegetable Hydra,' 'waterpest'; having disappeared from 

 many waters which it once infested. Where plentiful, it serves as manure, as 

 food for waterfowl, harbours the spawn of fish, and disinfects the streams (Pierer's 

 Conversations-Lexikon, 6th ed. 1876, s. v. Elodea. Meyer's Conversations- Lexihon, 

 3rd ed. 1874, s. v. Anacharis Alsinastrum). Babington himself wrote a paper on 

 Anacharis Alsinastrtmi [Edinb. Bot. Trans, iii, 1850, 27 — 34 ; Ann. Nat. Hist, i, 

 1848, 81—88; Ann. Sci. Nat. xi, Bot., 1849, 66—82). See especially Sowerby's 

 English Botany, ix^ (1869) 81 — 85. Compare the giant growth of water-cress in 

 New Zealand. Zoology tells like tales of acclimatisation and its perils : sparrows 

 in the United States, rabbits in Australia. 



1' Babington's lay sermon to the Ray Club, 29 Nov. 1887, p. 4: "But there is 

 another point in which we necessarily differ greatly from our state in former times. 

 Then the Natural History part of Natural Science was pursued with great earnest- 

 ness and activity by some of our Members and many of the young men in the 

 University : now it is rare to find an Undergraduate or B.A. who knows, or cares 

 to know, one plant from another, or distinguish insects scientifically. I am one of 

 those who consider this to be a sad state of things. I know that much of what is 

 called Botany is admirably taught among us ; but it is not what is usually known 

 as Botany outside the Universities, and does not lead to a practical knowledge of 

 even the most common plants. It is really Vegetable Physiology, and ought to be 

 so called. It is a very important subject, but does not convey a knowledge of 

 plants. A similar distinction should be made in Botany as is done in Zoology." 

 See also the preface to his Manual, ed. 5. 



18 See Leon. Blomefield (Jenyns) "Sketch of the Flora of Bath, 1864," in 

 "Wright's Historical Guide Book to Bath," pp. 401—415. "The Bath Flora. 

 Lecture delivered to the Members of the Bath Field Club, Dec. 5 1866." 8vo, pp. 39. 



'9 Died 18 March 1887, Seaton Avenue, Mutley, Plymouth, aet. 85. Mark the 

 age, a twelvemonth short of Berkeley's and Babington's span. 



20 See Linn. Soc. Proc. 1885—6, p. 146 : " Babington's Manual is now (1886) in 

 the eighth edition, and the influence of the successive editions on field-botany can 

 hardly be measured." Mr. James Britten, Journ. Bot., Sept. 1895 : " Of this work 

 it is not too much to say that it revolutionized the study of British plants and gave 

 an impetus to thought and work among British botanists to a degree unequalled by 

 any publication of the century." 



