425 



After his return home his health improved ;considerably, and 

 he was much in request as an adviser by owners of gardens and 

 estates ; but he soon found the travelling too arduous, and 

 eventually declined all invitations. 



The rest of his active life was largely devoted to the further 

 investigation of the fauna and flora of the gardens he loved so 

 well. Latterly it was the Fungi and Lepidoptera that almost 

 exclusively engaged his attention, and nothing could dissuade 

 him from spending hours in the damp underwood of the Queen's 

 Cottage grounds in search of microscopic fungi. He even paid 

 nocturnal visits in quest of moths. The additions to the Lepi- 

 doptera in the current volume of the Bulletin were mostly 

 captured by him. A notable discovery was the Spurge Hawk 

 moth, Deilephila Eupliorbiae. 



Close upon 2,000 species of fungi are known to occur in the 

 gardens, and Nicholson alone collected about 500 of them. Among 

 his discoveries the following were quite new to science : Dasy- 

 cypha abscondita, Massee, Bumaria Nichohonii, Massee, Pleuro- 

 ascus Nicholsonii. Massee and Salmon, and Milowia amethystwa. 



His later visits to the Gardens were in a Bath chair, and they 

 were continued to within a week or two of his death. 



Nicholson was a great reader, and he had a considerable and 

 very miscellaneous collection of books, including many French, 

 some German, Italian and Spanish, chiefly purchased of second- 

 hand dealers ; and at the death of the late Mr. Herman Herbst 

 he inherited his books. On his rounds of the book-shops 



from time 



covered a book or a pamphlet not in the Kew library, which he 

 either presented or reported, thus giving us an opportunity of 

 purchasing. Among the books presented bv him were the " Album 

 van Eeden," the "Album Benary," Victor Petit's "Pares et 

 Jardins des Environs de Paris." Kidder & Fletcher's " Brazil and 

 Jhe Brazilians," and the M Transactions of the English Arboricnl- 



tnral Society," from the beginning. He also presented the third, 



or 1844, edition of Loddi-W remarkable catalogue of Orchids, 

 which contains 1916 numbers, with native countries, dates of 

 introduction and references to figures of the species enumerated. 



Finally, it may be said that George Nicholson was devoted to 

 kew, and discharged his duties to the establishment and to those 

 under him in such a maimer as to gain the esteem and admiration 

 ot all concerned. Many an old Kewite will remember with 

 gratitude how much he owes to Nicholson's timely advice and 

 ^tailing readiness to encourage and assist. 



Fo 



Bibliography. 



r 



to the Hor- 



^ ^ «^ xxi D ait^es mostly contain original critical 



matter of permanent value. The following list is by no means 



, - wi F^j. luiiaein; vaiue. 



exhaustive, as he often wrote 

 ea of tb -e scope and extent o 



some 



1 i terary 



Wild Flora 



1875, vol.xiii., pp. 9, 42, 71. 



Journ. 



