UNDLEY, JOHN, LLJX 



LINDLEY, JOHN, LL.D. 



was the ion of one of his own countrymen, found him depressed uid 



national character of the Polo theu>ele, instructive especially f 

 Swede, who belongs to a country which hu the same powerful 



for a 



vede, who belongs to a country which has the same powerful and 

 wily neighbour that IVUnd bail, and who hears the same misleading 

 doctrines preached around him which ended in subjecting Poland to 

 the Uuiiiau joke." Linde had at that time been reappointed by tie 

 KuMtan government to some of the educational posts he formerly 

 held, but he resigned them in 1833, and appears to have lived in 

 retirement till bis death on the Sth of August 1847 at Warsaw. In 

 addition to his Dictionary he was the autlior of a work in Polish on 

 the statutes of Lithuania, and he translated from the Russian Grecb's 

 ' Hi-lory of Rus>iau Literature,' with an appendix of additions. His 

 pen was frequently employed in rendering PolUh works into German, 

 the language with which to the last be seems to have been most 

 familiar. The most important of these was his translation (Warsaw, 

 1822) of the Dissertation on Kadlubek, the old Polish historian, by 

 his friend and patron Count Ossolinski, who it should be mentioned 

 asj-iittd materially in the composition of the Dictionary, and to whom 

 in conjunction with Prince Cxartoiyeki, also a munificent patron, tbat 

 work is dedicated. 



* UNDLEY, JOHN, LL.D., a distinguished living botanist. His 

 family is a branch of the Lindleys of Jowet House in Yorkshire, who 

 were trustees of the Earl of Essex in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 

 He was born February 5, 1799, at Cattou, near Norwicb, where his 

 father was owner of a considerable nursery garden. He was the 

 author of a work, entitled ' A Guide to Orchard and Kitchen Garden*,' 

 an edition of which baa since been edited by his son. In this way 

 the young Lindley had bis attention early directed to the science in 

 which he has become so eminent He received his early education at 

 the Grammar-school at Norwich. 



One of the earliest botanical labours of Dr. Liudley was the trans- 

 lation of Richard's 'Analyse du Fruit,' which appeared in 1819. In 

 1820 be published Lis ' Monographia Rosarum,' which contain- d the 

 description of uew specie*, and was illustrated by several drawings 

 executed by the author. In 1821 he published a paper in the ' Trans- 

 actions of the Liuuaean Society, entitled ' Observations on Pomacesc.' 

 In the Fame year he published a paper on the structure of the 

 Lemnas (Duckweed) in Hooker's 'Flora Scotica.' In this paper he 

 first pointed out the true structure of those plants, and demonstrated 

 the existence of pistils and stamens in their minute fronds 1 . Two other 

 separate works were also published in this year, ' Monographia Digi- 

 talium,' a work containing descriptions of the various species of 

 Foxglove, and a miscellaneous contribution entitled ' Collectanea 

 Botanica.' 



About this time he came to London, and was engaged by the late 

 Mr. Loudon to write the descriptive portion of his ' Encyclopaedia of 

 Plants.' This work was published in 1829. In his preface Mr. 

 Loudon says, " The botanical merits of this volume belong entirely to 

 Profet-sor Lindley ; he determined the genera and the number of species 

 to be arranged under them, prepared the specific characters, deri- 

 vations, and accentuations; he either wrote or examined the cotes, 

 and corrected the whole while passing through the press." This 

 gigantic work prepared Dr. Lindley for further work. Although the 

 Encyclopaedia was arranged according to the artificial system, its pre- 

 paration had placed him in a position to compare the natural arrange- 

 ment which had been suggested by Ray, and improved by Adanson, 

 Jnssieu, and Robert Brown, with that of Linnaeus. The result was 

 that he became one of the warmest advocates of the cultivation of the 

 natural system, and has done more than any other English writer to 

 make it popularly known. His next work, published in 1830, was an 

 ' Introduction to the Natural System of Botany.' This work was 

 an arrangement of the vegetable kingdom upon the natural system, 

 and was accompanied by an essay upon the objects and advantages of 

 this system. 



In 1832 he published his 'Introduction to Systematic and Physio- 

 logical Botany.' In this work the structure and physiology of plants 

 were treated in a much more complete manner than had been 

 previously done by any English writer. In order to render the 

 natural system available for the study of British plants, he pub- 

 lished a ' Synopsis of the British Flora,' in which the species of 

 British plants were arranged according to the natural system. 



In 1833 be published the ' Nexus 1'lantuiia,' in which he introduced 

 some alterations in the arrangement of plants according to the natural 

 system. A second edition with further alterations was published 

 under the title of ' Key to Systematic Botany.' This work also com- 

 prised a general outline of the principles of vegetable structure and 

 physiology, forming a second edition of a smaller work previously 

 published, entitled ' Outlines of the First Principli-s of Botany.' 



In 1636, when a new edition of the Introduction of the Natural 

 System was required, he remodelled the whole work and gnve lists of 

 the genera of plants under the description of the natural families. 

 This work was entitled ' A Natural System of Botany.' In this work 

 the author propounded pome new views of classification, and modified 

 the nomenclature of the natural families. 



In 1846 this work was expanded into "The Vegetable Kingdom,' 



a work by far the most comprehensive and complete of any tbat have 

 hitherto appeared on the subject of systematic botany. An improved 

 system of classification was again introduced, and a more detailed 

 description of the families, especially those belonging to the class C'ryp- 

 toi/amia were given, and new and more extended lists of the g< IUTU 

 were added : references to p'anta useful to man, and an illustration in 

 wood engraving of every natural order, rendered this volume a most 

 important contribution to the literature of botany. This work has 

 already gone through several editions. 



Whilst Dr. Lindley has been thus engaged in correcting and 

 criticising the general arrangement of plants, he has been most dili- 

 gent iu the description of genera and species. In 1838 appeared bis 

 'Flora Jledica,' in which all the species of plants used in British 

 medicines were described in detail. He has been for u any years 

 editor of the ' Botanical Register,' and a constant contributor. In 

 1819 he described in its pages the Maranta Zcbrina. In 1821 he for 

 the first time defined and distinguished the natural order Calycan- 

 thacetf, and a host of species testify to his accurate definitions and 

 extraordinary industry. 



When the ' Penny Cyclopaedia ' was originally started, Dr. Lindley 

 commenced writing the botanical articles, and continued them as far as 

 the letter R. Some of these nre valuable contributions to botanical 

 science, such as the articles ' Botany,' ' Exogens,' and ' Endogens.' 



Besides the monographs before alluded to, Dr. Lindley has pub- 

 lish' d one 'On the genera and species of Orchidacese,' splendidly 

 illustrated by the inimitable pencil of Francis Bauer. To this group 

 of plants Dr. Lindley has paid great attention, and successfully 

 elucidated some of the difficult points of their structure. 



Dr. Lindley has not confined his nttei tion to recent plants alone, 

 and in conjunction with Mr. Hutton he has published the 'Fossil 

 Flora of Great Britain,' which consists of descriptions and figures of 

 all the fossil plants known up to the time it was published. This work 

 was published in parts, and commenced in 1833. 



Dr. Lindley has not only written for the botanist, but for the people. 

 One of the best introductions to the science of botany in its day was 

 his 'Botany,' in the series of the Library of Useful Knowledge, pub- 

 lished by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. He has 

 also, after the manner of the 'Botanical Letters' of Jean Jacques 

 Rousseau, written a work called ' Ladies' Botany,' in which a knowledge 

 of the structure of the natural orders is very gracefully conveyed in 

 the form of a series of letters. He has also written a very cheap intro- 

 duction to the science of botany, with a large number of woodcuts, 

 under the title of ' School Botany.' In this work, besides a structural 

 and physiological introduction, the natural orders of the European 

 flora are described and illustrated by genera and species, and the whole 

 is arranged according to De Candolle's system. 



In the midst of his scientific labours, Dr. Lindley never appears to 

 have forgotten a practical aim. In his father's nursery he saw that 

 gardening was to be improved by science. He felt there was no higher 

 aim for science than making it subservient to the daily wants of man. 

 Thus we find him applying the principles of scientific botany to the 

 art of horticulture. A third edition of his 'Theory of Horticulture' 

 has recently appeared. This work contains by far the best expoi-ition 

 of the principles of horticulture extant. Not satisfied however with 

 this exhibition of the principles of his science, he has since 1841 edited 

 a horticultural newspaper, ' The Gardeners' Chronicle.' This weekly 

 epitome of horticultural and agricultural knowledge has been conducted 

 with great ability, and is a repository of most useful facts and theories, 

 alike useful to the practical and scientific man. 



Dr. Lindley has now been for a quarter of a century the laborious 

 Professor of Botany at University College, London. In 1829, when 

 that institution was yet called the London University, he was appointed 

 to the chair of botany. At tbat time little attention had been paid to 

 the study of botany as a branch of education in London, and although 

 looked upon chiefly as a branch of medical education, it did not, as an 

 especial subject, enter into the required course of study of any of the 

 corporate bodies which granted licences for practising the various 

 branches of medicine. When Dr. Lindley was appointed, the success 

 of the chair was looked upon as doubtful, botany having betn always 

 taught in connection with materia medico, and not being very popular 

 as a science. Dr. Lindley's success as a lecturer was complete, and 

 since that time, medical students have been required to attend a course 

 of lectures on botany. 



In 1831 Dr. Lindley was appointed lecturer on botany at the Royal 

 Institution, a post which it is to be regretted has not been filled up 

 since his retirement. In 1835 he was appointed successor to Professor 

 Burnett as lectun r on botany at the Botanic Gardens at Chelsea. These 

 gardens nre the property of the Apothecaries' Society, and contained an 

 admirable collection of plants, which it was the duty of the lecturer 

 to illustrate. These lectures, though highly appreciated by the 

 medical students of Loudon, have also been discontinued. 



Notwithstanding the occupation afforded by his books and lectures, 

 Dr. Lindley has been assistant secretary to the Horticultural Society 

 since 1&22. Under his vigorous management this society maintained for 

 many years a most extensive horticultural establishment at Turnham 

 Green, and a large number of new plants nnd fruits were introduced by 

 its agency. The funds however by which it was carried on were mainly 

 derived from tho public shows of fruit and flowers. These wero 



