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To quote the words of a high authority :— 
‘* Hooker stands out as the greatest authority the world has 
yet produced on the subject of the distribution of plants; although 
he did much other work, this alone confers on him immortality.” 
The subject, which Darwin once described as ‘‘almost the 
keystone of the laws of Creation,’’ was one upon which Hooker 
constantly wrote. The two essays which stand out pre-eminently 
are ‘‘On the Distribution of Arctic Plants’’ (1860) and ‘‘ The 
Introductory Essay to the Flora of Tasmania ”’ (1861). These 
have been described as ‘* only less epoch-making than the Origin 
itself.”’ His addresses to the British Association at Nottingham 
in 1866 and York in 1881 also dealt with this question, but he 
gave the world no comprehensive work embodying his matured 
views. At one time, he more or less advocated the ‘ extensionist ’ 
theory of Forbes that imaginary sunk continents explained many 
of the problems of distribution, but later he shared the ‘ migra- 
tionist’ views of Darwin anc allace, of the permanence o 
continents, and that the solution of the difficulties of plant distri- 
bution lies rather in the direction of processes going on around 
us now—a-view further strengthened by the more recent 
researches of Dr. Guppy. 
Hooker was President of the Royal Society from 1873 till 1878; 
he told Darwin he did not want to be ‘‘ crowned head of Science ” 
and looked on it as ‘‘an awful honour’’; nevertheless, his presi- 
dency was very successful, and marked by several important 
changes, such as the reduction of fees, and a more systematic 
classification of scientific papers. The arrangements, too, for 
the expeditions to observe the transits of Venus in 1875 and 1878, 
as well as for the famous Challenger expedition, passed through 
his hands. 
Perhaps more important than all was his lifelong friendship 
with Darwin. Darwin repeatedly acknowledged his indebtedness 
to Hooker. ‘‘ You will never know how much I owe to you and 
Wilberforce poured his unctuous scorn on Darwin. e story 
is too well known to need repetition. Huxley’s reply to the 
(as he put it) ‘in the wind.” “Sam was shut up—had not one 
word to say in reply—and the meeting was dissolved forthwith, 
leaving you’’ he wrote to Darwin, ‘‘ master of the field after 
four hours’ battle.”’ 
Oxford, it may be recalled, was also the scene, with the same 
Bishop in the chair, four years later, of Disraeli’s famous “ ap 
or angel” speech. To this day opinion is divided as to whether 
it was intended to be taken seriously or as a pompous joke. At 
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