355 



when tlie botanical names of various Tussock-grasses were in 

 request. In April he submitted to Ke,w some proof of the 

 Dictionary, asking for information and criticisms with regard 

 to certain combinations of Turkey included in it, and whether 

 we could enlighten him as to the insect which mines under the 

 bark of pear-trees? Further, whether the name of the insect 

 mentioned by some old authors on gardening as the Turk could 

 be -^ identified with - Turk, the ethnical or political name? 

 The. mining insect may possibly be Scolytus rugulosus, hut no 

 instance of the application of the name Turk to this could be 

 found. The American plum-weevil [Conotrachclus nenuphar) 

 is known, at least in America, as Little Turk, and the identity 

 of Turk in this case with the political name is indicated in the 

 Century Dictionary, where it is stated that "it is so called 

 from, the crescentic punctures made by the female, in allusion 

 to the emblem of the Ottoman Empire." 



Sir James Murray was pre-eminently a philologist, but he 

 w^as deeply interested in many branches of knowledge, including 

 zoology, geology and botany. His letters often disclosed a 

 desire for more information about plants than was actually 

 required for his Dictionary, and the temptation to seek 

 enlightenment on anything about which he was in doubt seemed 

 as if the Baconian maxim— "He that questioneth much will 

 learn much "—was ever in his mind. He questioned, however, 

 to very little purpose in at least one instance to which he 

 referred in writing to Kew about the Sycamore {Acer pseudo- 

 platanus). Amongst its several popular names is that of 

 Plane or Plane-tree, which is perhaps more frequently used in 

 Scotland than in England, and it was the only Plane _ known 

 to Murray as a boy in the South of Scotland. On seeing the 

 London Plane (Plahmis <iceri folia) for the first time, at AVood 

 Street corner in Chcapside, he confessed to having been puzzled 

 and surprised, and added: "I asked many passers if they could 

 tell me what tree it was. They looked at the tree and then at 

 me and said: 'It's a tree,' or, some of them The tree, and 

 passed on. I found it out for myself eventiially. 



In dealing with the mauv questions received at Kew trom 

 its world-wide cirek of correspondents it has often been nece.ssary 

 to turn to the famous Dictionary and sometimes to the Lditor 

 himself. It is unnecessarv to say that he was found as ready 



to c^ive help ns to ask for it. , , i '^ t- tj. t ti ^ isj^..^ 



The passing of the courteous and scholarly Editor of T/e A.^ 



Englil DicUonary has deprived Kew of an old and esteemed 



friend. In his .^^rk there remains of lam an imperishable 



memorial. 



XXXIV. -MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



Mr. W. G. Cr 



AiB, M.A., whose <7I--tmenl as Assi.tant for 



India in the Herbarium was -'V<^^^\^^^ [^S^rV^^feZor 



has been selected for .^in>°\^^t^^5"* f^^f^^; . '^ith the status of 

 of Botanv in the ITniversity oi Etlmbuigli, wim 



