392 Bibliographical Notice. 



reference, Hooker's interest in it increased, and finally he went 

 through the MS. to revise the geographical notes and read the 

 proofs. Unluckily Mr. Darwin himself died within three months 

 of the undertaking being put in hand. 



With this activity in botanical publication, Hooker's influence in 

 other directions must not be overlooked. He was Darwin's confi- 

 dant for fifteen years before evolution was brought before the scien- 

 tific world in July 1858. He spent five years as President of the 

 ltoyal Society, 1873-78, with its consequent numerous committees, 

 and served on the Council of the Linnean Society almost uninter- 

 ruptedly from 1846 to 1884, and was Vice-President from 1861 to 

 1876 and 1882 to 1884, though he declined the Presidency in 1886, 

 after his retirement from Kew. 



Such is a rapid outline of Hooker's life, which is treated in detail 

 in the two volumes before us. Mr. Leonard Huxley is well 

 qualified as the biographer, being the eldest son of Prof. T. H. Huxley, 

 F.lt.S., Hooker's intimate friend, and, although it is not declared, 

 is the godson mentioned on page 59 of the second volume. With 

 the material already arranged by Lady Hooker, the connecting text 

 became manageable, otherwise the bulk available might have 

 proved insuperable. 



Many portraits are extant, in various media ; that reproduced 

 as the frontispiece to the first volume is, perhaps, the least satis- 

 factory, Hooker himself pronouncing it " lackadaisical," the very 

 word the present writer had always applied to it. 



In so long a work it is not surprising that slips occur — some due 

 to the printer, but not all. Here are a few, which should be 

 corrected in a second issue. The " S. J. Klotzsch " mentioned in 

 the note in vol. i. p. 25 was Johann Friedrich Klotzsch (1805-60). 

 The name " Osmanthus " on page 367 of the same volume must be 

 meant for " Osmothamnus." What was the date of the letter 

 cited? It must have been after 1882, when Rhododendron antho- 

 pogon was printed in the ' Flora of British India,' with Osmo- 

 thamnus fragrans and 0. pallidus as synonyms. 



In the second volume, on page 247, line 23, the name should 

 read Maingay, and p. 447, Mougeotii and Minium • while such slips as 

 " slpendid "' and " Penquins " are simple press errors. 



There are two Cunninghams curiously confused in the Index, ii. 

 p. 527 ;■ in vol. ii. David Douglas Cunningham (1843-1914) is re- 

 ferred to on p. 427, note, but his brother Robert Oliver Cunningham 

 (1841-1918) on p. 80, and 101, note. 



We close the volumes, which have recalled the memory of many 

 vanished botanists, with gratitude to the writers whose labours 

 have done so much to place on permanent record the great and 

 strong personality which Hooker's surviving contemporaries must 

 always remember with pleasure. It was indeed their good fortune 

 to have been associated with so commanding a figure. P. D. J. 



