FRANCIS BOOTT. 319 



This motto, which the author placed upon his title-pages, — 

 " The man who labors and digests things most, 

 Will be much apter to despair than boast," 



is felicitously expressive both of the endless difficulties of the 

 subject, and of his undervaluation of his endeavors to over- 

 come them. A most competent judge briefly declares that, — 



" This work is certainly one of the most munificent con- 

 tributions ever made to scientific botany, besides being one of 

 the most accurate ; on which account it certainly entitles its 

 author to take a much higher place amongst botanists than 

 that of an amateur, which was all that his modesty would 

 allow him to lay claim to." 



Dr. Boott's health, which had long been delicate, was much 

 shattered in the winter of 1839-40 by a dangerous attack of 

 pneumonia. " From this time he had repeated slight attacks ; 

 but no alarming symptoms occurred till June, 1863, when the 

 remaining lung gave way, and from that time he never fairly 

 rallied. He died at his residence, 24 Gower Street, on Christ- 

 mas day, retaining to the last his faculties and all the charac- 

 teristics of his most admirable life." 



Dr. Boott was a man of singular purity, delicacy, and good- 

 ness of character, and of the most affectionate disposition. 

 Few men of his ardent temperament and extreme sense of jus- 

 tice ever made fewer enemies or more friends. To the latter 

 he attached himself with entire devotion. If there were any 

 of the former, probably no man ever heard him speak»ill of 

 them. His published works suffice to place his name imper- 

 ishably upon the records of science. But only his contempo- 

 raries and friends will know how much he has done to help 

 others, and how disinterestedly and gracefully that aid was 

 ever rendered. He took with him to England, upon his re- 

 turn in the year 1820, a valuable herbarium of New England 

 plants, especially those of the White Mountains, which were 

 then rare and little known. He must have valued this collec- 

 tion highly, and have expected to use it. But he presented 

 the whole of it to Dr., now Sir William Hooker, when he saw 

 how serviceable it would be to him in the preparation of the 

 " Flora Boreali-Americana." His British herbarium was 

 long ago similarly given to a then young American botanist. 



