428 HOOKEB'S POSITION AS BOTANIST 



When we review these varied activities, extending through- 

 out the long life of Sir Joseph Hooker, it is not difficult to 

 account for the pre-eminent position which he held among 

 his contemporaries. This estimate will be an enduring one. 

 For the quality and extent of the systematic work is such 

 that its effect must be felt wherever Flowering Plants are 

 denned and classified. On the other hand, the originality 

 of the generalisations on Geographical Distribution, and on 

 the Species Question, has lifted current opinion into new 

 channels, and so altered it that his place in the History of 

 Human Thought is for ever assured. 1 



1 Foreign opinion has been aptly called a court of contemporary posterity. 

 Recalling this, it is interesting to record that soon after Hooker's death he was 

 selected by the Japanese as ' one of the twenty-nine Heroes of the World that 

 Modern Time has produced.' L. H. 



