284 ]\Ir. Andkrson's Monograph of the Genus Tcconia. 



able to see the result of our inquiry placed in the pages of llic 

 Trausnctions of the Soeiel}', was suddenly destroyed ; and lliat 

 which woulcl have afforded me so much pleasure, has now been a 

 task, accompanied with the most painful recollections. 



'J'o those who had the happiness of being acquainted with 

 Mr. George Anderson, it will not be necessary to recall the recol- 

 lection of his merits and of his goodness; his loss has been most 

 severely lamented by his friends, and the remembrance of his 

 A'irtues ami of his excellence will remain in their hearts to the 

 latest period of their lives. The science of Botany in this coun- 

 try, had he not been so early lost, would probably have been con- 

 siderably benefited by his labours. He had devoted much thne 

 and minute attention to the investigation of the genus Snlix, the 

 species of which he had examined with the greatest care; and' 

 having formed a most extensive collection of them, he had made 

 such progress in their arrangement as would have enabled him, 

 had he lived, ere long to have communicated to the public a very 

 accurate and correct account of the whole. His inquiries were 

 not, however, confined to this subject only ; his knowledge of 

 English plants was accurate and extensive, and his diligence and 

 jicrseverance in the search after rare and new native species very 

 remarkable. With all the different hardy bulbous plants he was 

 particularly well acquainted, and had acquired a knowledge of 

 the species and varieties of the extensive genera of Crocus, Nar- 

 cissus, Tulipa, Ilyacinthus, and Lilium, from the examination of 

 them under cultivation in his own garden, which probably no 

 individual who survives him possesses. 



I have not ventured to alter or to add to any part of the pre- 

 cedino- paper; the examination which I was enabled to make of 

 tlie Pa2onies during the last summer, has given me no reason to 

 doubt the accuracy of any of the observations for which we were 



jointly 



