40° 
the most interesting of all, for in it he records his personal 
recollections of Robert Brown. We are familiar with the 
estimate of Brown as a botanist, “* botanicorum facile princeps,”’ 
as expressed by Humboldt. Sir Joseph reveals some of his 
remarkable characteristics as a man. “Of all the friends I 
ever had,” he wrote, “he was the most persistently reticent, 
whether in conversation or correspondence.” Asa Gray (Letters, 
vol. i. p. 128) seems to have held the same opinion of Brown : 
“He is, as old Menzies told us, the driest pump imaginable.” 
Though Brown showed him kindness during his preparations 
for the voyage to the Antarctic Sir Joseph makes the startling 
confession: ‘‘ On my return he never asked me a single question 
about the Erebus, its captain or officers, or the places we had 
visited.” This appears the more extraordinary in view of the 
fact that, as naturalist to Flinders’ Expedition, Brown, about 
forty years before, had explored and collected in Tasmania, the 
scene of many important investigations by Hooker. Their 
impressions of the island and its people, and their common 
interest in its vegetation, might be supposed to have prompted 
many a question and remark when the two men met on Hooker's 
return, but Brown maintained a sphinx-like silence with regard 
to his own experiences and manifested no desire to learn anythin 
-of Hooker’s. We should imagine from the singular treatment 
that Hooker received from Brown that the latter, in spite of 
so much that was really great and amiable in his character, 
was small enough to regard the enthusiastic younger botanist 
with some jealousy. Darwin (Letiers, i. p. 7 3) observed that 
Brown was “‘ strangely jealous on some points.” 
The late Lady Hooker has presented a large Solldetion of 
typed matter comprising copies of Sir Joseph’s letters, journals 
and lectures, etc.; also 37 original notebooks of abs India un. and 
other travels. 
Among manuscripts received from Dr. W. Botting Hemsley 
are his notes for a Flora Seychellensis and for a supplement to the 
Biologia Centrali-Americana, and numerous letters written to 
him by Sir J. D. Hooker ; Dr. Hemsley has also presented some 
publications containing plates for the collection of drawings. 
Mr. J. F. Duthie has presented 122 letters, also by Sir J. Dy 
Hooker, written during the period 1875 to 1910. Three copies 
of Mr. Duthie’s Flora of the Upper Gangetic Plain, ete., vol. iii 
pt. 2, have reached the library from the Director of the Botanical 
Survey = India. This part includes the families Coniferae to 
Juncace 
In addition to the current issues of several serials and — 
periodicals, received in exchange for Hooker’s Icones Plantarum, 
the Bentham Trustees have presented a rare little volume by 
Baptista Fiera, which is sometimes quoted under the title: 
Coena : de cibariorum virtutibus ; it is undated, but it is believed 
that it was published in Rome about 1489. It is an octavo 
volume containing 29 leaves of text, which consists of Latin 
