The South Australian Naturalist. 



involved, he left it in a prosperous state. In those days it was 

 the custom for the society to send to distant lands collectors, 

 who broug'ht back plants to be introduced into English gardens. 

 They were described by Benthani and Ijindley. Among those 

 acclimatised in Bentham's time were the now familiar 

 escholtzia and clarkia. 



In 1854 Bentham found his means too straitened to permit 

 of his keeping up a large herbarium and botanical library. He 

 presented them to the nation, and they were sent to Kew. Their 

 value was estimated at £6,000. He also announced his intention 

 of abandoning botanical work, but, happily for science. Hooker 

 persuaded him to continue his studies at the Kew Botanical 

 Gardens. Here for years he worked on week-days from 10 a.m. 

 to 4 p.m. 



In 1861 he ]niblished his "Flora of Hongkong," and gave 

 the first systematic examination of the botany of China. A few 

 years later he began the ''Plora Australiensis, " which, when 

 completed in 1878, was a complete survey of the flora of the 

 Commonwealth. Mr. J. H. Maiden, F.R.S., the accomplished 

 Government Botanist of N.B.W., in a recent letter to the writer 

 of this article, characterises this monumental work as "the 

 Family Bible of Australian botanists." There are members of 

 the Field Naturalists' Society who are fortunate enough to have 

 the complete work ; it is hardly necessary to remind others, less 

 fortunate, that they can gain ready access to it in the Public 

 Library on North Terrace. Although on the title-page of this 

 great work Bentham credits Dr. (afterwards Baron) von Muel- 

 ler with being co-author, the statement is too sweeping. Bent- 

 ham's generosity causes him to exaggerate the very great ser- 

 vices von Mueller rendered from this side of the world as a 

 collector. The latter had an immense amount of material 

 which he had gathered during his extensive land journeys over 

 the Commonwealth, and received from explorers who had sent 

 him their collections for identification. AH these spoils were 

 forwarded by von Mueller to Bentham, as well as- numerous 

 letters of iniport concerning them. 



Bentham had access to the collections in the British Museum 

 made by Robt. Brown,* Allan Cunningham (1791-1839), Jas. 

 Drummond of W.A. (1784 e.-1863), and others. Of the special 

 collectors then living in South Australia, Bentham mentions 

 F. G. Waterhouse (Kangaroo Island) ; Dr. H. Behr, who for 



*See p. 41 " Sir Joseph Banks, The Father of Australia, ' ' 

 by J. H. Maiden, F.K.S. 



