122 Alexander Goodman More. [i860 



and of the west coast of Ireland, just as Allium ampeloprasum is still 

 grown in the west of France ? And though my friend Mr. D. Moore has 

 gallantly stood up as a champion for Narcissus biflorus, I hope he will 

 forgive my urging, on the other side, that Lloyd, in the west of France, 

 does not allot it a place among the indigenous plants of his district. 

 Possibly the "holy men of old," who founded the numerous churches 

 in the Isles of Aran, had better taste in flowers than in vegetables, if 

 they cultivated Narcissus biflorus for its beauty, and Allium babingtonii 

 as the leek best suited for their omelettes. Certes ! a very little of it 

 would go a long way. 



Though they failed to agree about the Leek, the strength 

 of Professor Babington's influence is peculiarly visible in 

 Mr. More's botanical writings of this period, and most of 

 all so, perhaps, in those in which the views (and still more 

 tt& methods] of the " splitting" and" lumping" schools were 

 contrasted. He had never, in theory, belonged to the " split- 

 ting" section, but used to envy the " lucky bird-men," who 

 were " not bothered with twice as many false species as true 

 ones." But it seemed to him one thing to disbelieve in 

 the minuter " splits " as species, and quite another to shirk 

 the study of them. In the articles " Chickweeds" and 

 "Viola hirta and V. odorata" he dwelt on this distinction, 

 putting the case for the splitters entirely from the prac- 

 tical, as opposed to the doctrinal aspect. Whether right 

 or wrong in their opinions, they were advancing the study 

 of British plants. And so, in practice, he took the side 

 on which, at that time, Professor Babington stood very 

 nearly alone among English botanists of the first rank. 

 An unpublished paper he wrote this summer contains 

 the following bit of imaginary dialogue between a 

 "Liberal" (Babingtonian) and a "Conservative" (Bent- 

 hamite) botanist. 



[ Enter two figures equipped with tin boxes. One carries in hand 

 " Bentham" the other Babington 's "Manual." It is to be 

 noticed that the latter has far the larger vasculum.~] 



Liberal Botanist. Well met ! I am very glad of the oppor- 

 tunity of doing a little field-work together. You come, I hear from 

 Kew. 



Conservative. Yes, indeed, and I wish I could see you there a little 

 oftener. What splendid series there are of foreign specimens ! You 

 would soon attain a greater appreciation of the value of species ; one 



