412 HOOKEK'S POSITION AS BOTANIST 



his freshness of interest in a new discovery, whether his own 

 or that of his younger contemporaries. Doubtless the extra- 

 ordinary length of his productive period made the great volume 

 of his work possible. But it is not upon the mere quantity 

 of the output that his title to fame is to be based. It is the 

 critical quality, the originality, and the diversity of the work 

 that are its outstanding features. Throughout it all runs the 

 golden thread of acute observation. He knew his plants 

 personally. As a boy he absorbed specific knowledge almost 

 unconsciously in his father's house in Glasgow, and in the 

 Botanic Garden there, which, as a source of novelties, was 

 at that time without its equal in this country or probably 

 in any other. As a young man he travelled the world over, 

 to see plants in their native surroundings. As a veteran he 

 lived among them in the great Garden at Kew. Few, if indeed 

 any, have ever known plants as he did. Such knowledge comes 

 only from growing up with them from earliest childhood. 



But he was not only a botanist. His interest extended 

 into kindred spheres. He shared with Darwin that wider 

 outlook upon the field of Science that gave a special value to 

 the writings of both. The best sample of his work as a 

 geographer is embodied in his 'Himalayan Journals/ a book 

 which ranks with Darwin's * Voyage of the Beagle,' and 

 Wallace's * Malay Archipelago.' These form a veritable 

 trilogy of the Golden Age of travel in pursuit of Science. The 

 data collected on his journey in Sikkim and Nepal formed the 

 basis of a map published by the Indian Topographical Survey. 

 By its aid the operations of various campaigns and political 

 missions have since been carried to a successful issue. If 

 Hooker were not known as a botanist he would still have an 

 assured place as a geographer. 



Similarly in the Science of Geology he made solid con- 

 tributions to knowledge. He was early in the field in the 

 microscopic examination of plant-tissues preserved in coal- 

 balls. These were studied by sections, a method then newly 

 introduced by Witham, and since greatly developed in this 

 country. He may be said to have himself originated another 

 line of study, since largely pursued by geologists* For he 



