THE LINNEAN PEESIDENCY 273 



to which he owed much, for ' it has always upheld Kew, 

 and it gave me its Gold Medal ' (1884). His Committee was 

 actively engaged in devising means for the encouraging the 

 study of Geography. And there and elsewhere he was ever 

 ready to serve the one cause which he would not grudge as 

 a distraction from the overriding claims of the Indian Flora, 

 the cause of Antarctic exploration. Both here and at the 

 British Association throughout the nineties he warmly sup- 

 ported those unwearying efforts of Sir Clements Markham 

 which brought about Captain Scott's first expedition in the 

 Discovery. 



The definite break with his old activities is clearly illus- 

 trated by a letter to Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury), de- 

 clining to be put forward as his successor in the Presidency of 

 the Linnean Society. 



The Camp, Sunningdale : March 7, 1886. 



My dear Lubbock, — When I resolved upon retirement 

 from official life and work, it was from well considered 

 principles from which I cannot depart. These included 

 severance from active participation in the labors of Scientific 

 Societies, as an absolutely essential condition for concluding 

 some at least of the almost life-long tasks that I have in hand. 



Could I see that Science would be more advantaged by 

 the breaking than by the holding to my resolve, I should 

 be justified in reconsidering it ; but in my view everything 

 points the other way. 



Were I to undertake the Presidentship of the Linnean, 

 I should feel it to be my duty and my endeavor to show 

 the same disinterested zeal in personally conducting the 

 Society's affairs, that I hope I have shown in every other 

 position of trust that I have held. To divert my thoughts 

 from its requirements would be impossible. No Secretary 

 could relieve me of that feeling of responsibility to Science 

 and the Society which the Presidentship demands, nor of 

 the craving to carry out measures for its improvement in 

 every detail. 



Even were I living at Kew, the work of reconstituting 

 the Society as the headquarters of Botany (as the Geological, 

 Chemical and Zoological are of their Sciences) would have 



