REMINISCENCES. Ixxi 



to the fifth edition of the Manual — the next which appeared after 

 the publication of Bentham's book, which latter, as every one 

 knows, considerably "reduced the number of our native species." 

 No one would disparage for one moment the value of Bentham's 

 work or the sanity of his conclusions ; yet it is well known that 

 it was mainly based upon the examination of herbarium specimens, 

 and this in spite of the large number of living plants always at 

 hand in the Gardens to which the Kew Herbarium is an adjunct. 



"An attempt has recently been made," says Babington, "greatly 

 to reduce the number of our native species. The results obtained 

 seem to be so totally opposed to the teaching of the plants them- 

 selves, and the evidence adduced in their favour is so seldom more 

 than a statement of opinion, that they cannot safely be adopted ; 

 nor does the plan of the present work admit of discussion of the 

 many questions raised by them. Also, it has been laid down as a 

 rule by some botanists that no plant can be a species whose dis- 

 tinctive characters are not as manifest in an herbarium as when 

 it is alive. We are told that our business as descriptive botanists 

 is not 'to determine what is a species,' but simply to describe plants 

 so that they may be recognised from the dry specimen. The author 

 cannot agree to this rule. Although he, in common with other 

 naturalists, is unable to define what is a species, he believes that 

 species exist, and that they may often be easily distinguished 

 amongst living plants, even when separated with difficulty from 

 their allies when dried specimens only are examined. He also 

 thinks that it is our duty as botanists to study the living plants 

 Avhenever it is possible to do so, and to describe from them ; 

 to write for the use and instruction of field- rather than cabinet- 

 naturalists — for the advancement of a knowledge of the plants 

 rather than for the convenience of possessors of herbaria ; also, 

 that the differences which we are able to describe as distinguishing 

 plants, being taken from their more minute organs, is not a proof 

 that they constitute only a single species. It seems to be our 

 business to decide upon the probable distinctness of plants before 

 we attempt to define them ; to make the species afford the character, 

 not the character form the species." 



The sixth (1867), seventh (1874), and eighth (1881) editions 

 were reviewed at some length in this Journal on their appearance 

 by Mr. Carruthers, Dr Trimen, and myself respectively,* and the 

 principal changes which accompanied them duly noted. One sen- 

 tence may be quoted from the last of these which is applicable to 

 every edition: "The words 'corrected throughout' which appear 

 upon the title page are always amply justified by the contents of 

 the volume ; and although many of the alterations introduced into 

 each successive edition seem in themselves trifling, they shew a 

 gratifying anxiety for accuracy in detail, and that no pains have 



* Journ. Bot. 1867, 1S4; 1874, 215; 1881, 280. 



