October, 1912. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



401 



of an otherwise busy life of scientific work and administration. 

 At one time or another he had touched upon every great con- 

 tinental area of the earth's surface. Many isolated islands 

 had also been examined by him, especially on the Antarctic 

 voyage. Not only were fresh regions thus opened up for 

 survey and collection, but each objective of the later journeys 

 was definitely choserr for scientific reasons. Each expedition 

 helped to suggest or to solve major problems. Such problems 

 related not only to the distribution, but also to the very origin 

 of species. Darwin saw this with unerring judgment as early 

 as 1845. Hooker was then but twenty-eight years old, and 

 the records of the Antarctic voyage were only in preparation. 

 Nevertheless, Darwin wrote with full assurance in a letter to 

 Hooker himself: "I know I shall live to see you the first 

 authority in Europe on that grand subject, that almost key- 

 stone of the laws of Creation, Geographical Distribution." 

 N'ever was a forecast more fully justified. Hut that position, 

 which Hooker undoubtedly had, could only have been attained 

 through his personal experience as a traveller. Observation 

 at first hand was the foundation upon which he chiefly 

 worked. Hooker the traveller prepared the way for Hooker 

 the philosopher. 



Sir Joseph Hooker would probably have declined to consider 

 himself as a i>co!of>ist. He was. however, for some eighteen 

 months ofiicial botanist to the Geological Survey of Great 

 Britain. He was appointed in .-Vpril, 1846, but relinquished 

 the post in November, 1847, in order to start on his Himalayan 

 journey. During that short period three memoirs were 

 published by him on plants of the Coal Period. They 

 embodied results derived from the microscopic examination 

 of plant-tissues preserved in Coal Balls, a study then newly 

 introduced by Witham, and advanced by Mr. Binney. It has 

 since been greatly developed in this country. Such studies 

 were continued by him at intervals up to 1855. While he was 

 thus among the first to engage in this branch of enquiry, he 

 may be said to have originated another line of study, since 

 largely pursued by geologists. For he examined samples of 

 diatomaceous ooze from the ocean-floor of the Antarctic, and 

 so initiated the systematic treatment of the organic deposits of 

 the deep sea. Vet another branch of geological enquiry was 

 advanced by him in the Himalaya. For there he made obser- 

 vations on the glaciers of that great mountain chain, his notes 

 supplying valuable material to both Lyell and Darwin. He 

 also accumulated valuable data concerning the stupendous 

 effects of sub-aerial denudation at great elevations. His 

 latest contribution of a geological character was in 1889, when 

 he returned to an old problem of his youth, the Silurian fossil, 

 Pachythcca. But he had to leave the question of its nature 

 still unsolved. This geological record is not an extensive one. 

 But the quality and rapidity of the work showed that it was 

 the time and opportunity and not the faculties that were 

 wanting. Moreover, it is worthy of remark that the problems 

 he handled were all nascent at the time he worked upon them. 



The Hst of Sir Joseph Hooker's memoirs which deal 

 morphologically with more limited subjects than is possible 

 in floristic works, is a restricted one. In 1856 he produced a 

 monograph on the Balanophoraceae, based upon collections 

 of material from the most varied sources. It is still an 

 authority very widely quoted on these strange parasites. In 

 1859 he described the development and structure of the 

 Pitchers of Xcpcntlies, while the physiological significance of 

 these and other organs of carnivorous plants, formed the 

 subject of an .Address before the British Association at Belfast, 

 in 1874. And in 1863 his great monograph appeared upon 

 that most remarkable of all Gymnospermic plants, W'cl-ui'itscli ia. 

 These works bore the character of a later period than the 

 time when they were produced. In [Britain, between 1840 and 

 1875, investigation in the laboratory, by microscopic analysis 

 of tissues, was almost throttled by the overwhelming success 

 of systematic and descriptive work. The revival of in\estiga- 

 tion in the laboratory rather than that in the herbarium dates 

 from about 1875. But we see that Hooker was one of the 

 few who, prior to that revival, pursued careful microscopic 

 analysis side by side with systematic and floristic work. 



The noble establishment of the Koyal Gardens at Kew is 



often spoken of as the Mecca of botanists. It is also the 

 Paradise of the populace of London. It was the Hookers, 

 father and son, who made Kew what it is. When we con- 

 template Sir Joseph as an adiiiiiiistrator. we immediately 

 think of the great establishment which he and his father ruled 

 during the first half century of its history as a public institution. 

 Kew had existed for long as a Royal appanage before it was 

 handed over to the nation. The Botanic Garden had, indeed, 

 ranked for upwards of half a century as the richest in the 

 world. But after the death of King George III it had retro- 

 graded scientifically. On the accession of Queen Victoria a 

 revision of the Royal Household had become necessary. It 

 was then decided to transfer the garden to the Conunissioners 

 of Woods and Forests. This took place in 1840, and in 1841 

 Sir William Hooker, who was then Professor in Glasgow, was 

 appointed the first Director. The move to Kew, whither he took 

 his private library, herbarium, and museum, was carried out in 

 the absence of his son, who was still in the Antarctic. It was not 

 tilltheHimalayan journey was over in 1851 that Sir Joseph settled 

 at Kew, his great collections having already beeij consigned 

 there by agreement with the Government. In 1855 he was 

 appointed assistant to his father in the Directorship. Finally, 

 he became himself Director on his father's death in 1865, and 

 he held the position for twenty years. 



So long associated together, it is difficult to disentangle the 

 parts that father and son actually played in the creation of 

 Kew as it now is. Nor is there need to attempt it. The 

 original area of the Garden at Kew was less than twenty acres. 

 But in 1855, when Sir Joseph joined his father in the director- 

 ate, it had grown by successive additions to seventy acres. 

 Finally, the large area of six hundred and fifty acres came 

 under the Director's control. Numerous large glass houses 

 were built. Three museums were established, and the vast 

 Herbarium and Library founded and developed. The Garden 

 StafT rose to more than one hundred men. The day-by-day 

 administration of such an establishment would necessarily 

 make great demands upon the time, energy, tact, and skill of 

 its official head. But in addition there was the growing 

 correspondence to be attended to, on the one hand with 

 botanists all over the world, on the other with the Government 

 Departments, and especially with the Indian and Colonial 

 Offices. As the activity of the Garden extended, there grew 

 up a large staff of scientific experts and artists, whose duties 

 centred round the Herbarium and Library. These all looked 

 to the Director for their guidance and control. The descrip- 

 tive work prepared by them for publication took formidable 

 dimensions. The production of the floras of India, and of 

 the Colonies, the publication of which was conducted under 

 Government subvention, had to be organised and carried 

 through. These matters are mentioned here to give you some 

 idea of the extent and complexity of the work which was being 

 carried on at Kew. For ten years as Assistant Director, and 

 for twenty years as Director, Sir Joseph Hooker guided this 

 complex machine. The efficiency of his rule was shown by 

 the increasing estimation in which the Garden was held by all 

 who were able to judge. 



It was the founding of the Herbarium and Library at Kew 

 which, more than anything else, strengthened the scientific 

 estabhshment. As taken over from the Crown the Garden 

 possessed neither. But Sir William brought with him from 

 Glasgow his own collections, already the most extensive in 

 private hands. For long years after coming to Kew he main- 

 tained and added to his store at his own expense. But finally 

 his collections were acquired after his death by Government. 

 His herbarium was merged with the fine herbarium of 

 Bentham, already presented to the nation in 1857. Thus, the 

 opening years of Sir Joseph's directorate saw the organisation 

 upon a public basis of that magnificent Herbarium and 

 Library, which now contains not only his father's collections, 

 but also his own. .Among the enormous additions since made 

 to the Herbarium of Kew. its greatest interest will always be 

 centred in the Hookerian collections which it contains. 



It might be thought that such drafts as these upon the 

 time and energies of a scientific man would leave no 

 opportunity for other duties. But it was while burdened 



