400 



NA TURE 



[September 30, 1909 



(i) The proposal appears to have been brought up 

 suddenly, without previous warning, towards the latter 

 part of August, at a time when, as is well known, 

 manv Government officials are expected to be away 

 on leave, and, consequently, delay is almost certain. 

 It appears also that as soon as the question was gone 

 into bv those concerned, it was decided to consent 

 to the proposal on the strict understanding that any 

 further step in the conversion of the existing horse- 

 tramway between East Greenwich and Woolwich 

 should be by extension of the conduit system east- 

 wards, and not of the trolley system westwards. It 

 is, of course, impossible to say how long it will be 

 before this decision can have any practical effect, but 

 it is certain that no further delay can be attributed 

 to the observatory. 



(2) As regards the authorised tramway from ^^'ool- 

 wich to Eltham, we find that many Elthani residents 

 ;ire strongly opposed to the overhead system, while 

 the official position is not one of hostility to the over- 

 head system per sc. but of insisting on insulated 

 returns, any system which ensures this for the pro- 

 tection of (ireenwich magnetic records being free 

 from this official objection. .-\s a case in point, the 

 G.B. surface-contact system was proposed by the 

 County Council several years ago and sanctioned 

 officially, but was then dropped after some inconclusive 

 experiments. Recently a new surface-contact svstem, 

 the .S.P. system, was made the subject of an article 

 in Engineering, May 28, and claims to avoid 

 the risk of danger alleged against the G.B. svstem. 

 It has been tried and favourably reported on, but has 

 not apparently been suggested for the Woolwich and 

 Eltham tramway. 



The officird attitude thus seems perfectly consistent 

 and reasonable, and not unsympathetic. The sugges- 

 tion of overhead wires without insulated returns 

 within a radius of three miles from the observatorx' 

 oug-ht once for .-ill to be dropped. If the County 

 Council objects to the expense of the conduit sxstcm 

 and to the inconvenience of equipping the overhead 

 system with insulated returns, it is for them to find 

 a satisfactory alternative. Unless the protective 

 clauses insisted on by the Government are to become 

 a dead letter, it is futile to try to blame the observatory 

 for delay or obstruction, and it is in the last degree 

 unlikely that the .\dmir.iltv will be persuaded to 

 stultify its own action and contention by allowing 

 these clauses to be overridden. 



PETER BARR. 



"T^HE name of this eminent horticulturist, whose 

 -'■ death we announced last week, will ever be 

 associated with the development of narcissi. Born in 

 1826, in the former village of Govan, which has long 

 since been absorbed in the city of Glasgow, he was 

 the son of a mill-owner who found recreation from 

 weaving in the cultivation of tulips and other florists' 

 flowers. The son appears to have inherited a strong 

 love for floriculture, for he soon tired of the looms, and 

 obtained employment in various seed businesses, until 

 in 1861 he commenced business, with a partner, on 

 the site of the present premises of Messrs. Barr and 

 .Sons, King Street, Covent Garden, under the title 

 of Barr and .Sugden. Barr then directed his atten- 

 tion to practical floriculture, experimenting with 

 hellebores (Christmas roses), tulijjs, lilies, and 

 jxeonies. For these purposes he found it necessary 

 to take up a piece of ground at Tooting, where he 

 conducted trials which interested the leading florists 

 o* the day. He next scoured the country over 



XO. 2083, VOL. 81] 



for narcissi, meeting with considerable success in 

 his q\iest. Two amateurs had already formed wonder- 

 ful Collections of these flowers which, unknown to the 

 general public, they had cultivated for nearly a quarter 

 of a century. These were Mr. W. Backhouse, of 

 Darlington, and Mr. Edward Leeds, of .Manchester. 

 Barr made up his mind that if he could only obtain 

 possession of these collections, he would have all the 

 best of existing daffodils in his own possession. Bv 

 dint of perseverance and enterprise he succeeded in 

 this, and the collections were removed to Tooting, 

 where for years afterwards new seedling varieties 

 flowered every year. Every variety worth cultivating 

 was named and its name registered, for he recognised 

 that no commercial success would follow unless the 

 public could be assured that every plant catalogued 

 was accurately and intelligently named. But the 

 varieties continued to multiply so greatly that he found 

 it necessary to elaborate a classification, grouping the 

 sorts into sections according to the length of the 

 trumpet or perianth tube and other characteristics. 

 Mainly owing to Barr's representations, the Roval 

 Horticultural Society promoted a Daffodil Conference 

 in 1S84, and his system of classification was then, in 

 the main, adopted. Not long after this the attention 

 of market growers was directed to these bulbs, and 

 in the Scilly Isles, in Cornwall, in Lincolnshire, and 

 other places acres of land were planted for the 

 purpose of supplying the markets with cut blooms, 

 with the result we see to-day in the millions of flowers 

 that are offered everywhere for sale. 



Peter Barr retired from business in i8q6, 

 after botanising in various places in Europe 

 for the purpose of collecting rare daffodils in 

 their native habitats. In 1808 he began a 

 tour round the world, which lasted seven years. He 

 visited .\merica, Canada, Japan, China, .Australia, 

 New Zealand, and, on his way home, spent twentv-one 

 months in South .Africa. During this world tour he 

 lectured on daffodils, and was interviewed and 

 acclaimed almost everywhere as the " Dafl'odil King," 

 a title which had been given him in this country by 

 his fellow-floriculturists. 



One of the finest white trumpet daffodils ever raised 

 was distributed a few years ago by his firm, and 

 it was named after Peter Barr. 



NOTES. 



W'r. livirn from the Times, with deep regret, of the death, 

 on Sunday last, of Prof. .Anton Dohrn, the founder and 

 director of the Zoological .Station at Naples. 



Sir Thom.as Elliott, Secretary to the Board of .Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries, has been nominated by the French 

 Government to be a Companion of the Ord'T " du M^rite 

 -Agricole." 



In view of the retirement, to which reference has beerj 

 .made in these columns already, of Prof. J. Cleland, F.R.S., 

 from the chair of anatomy, and of Prof. Jack from the 

 chair of matliematics, at the end of the present month, 

 there has been set on foot, on the initiative of the business 

 committee of the general council of the University of 

 tilasgow, a movement for making appropriate recognition 

 of their long £nd distinguished services. Circulars have 

 been issued to the whole body of university graduates and 

 to members of other learned bodies with which Prof.s. 

 Cleland and Jack have been connected. In the circulars it 

 is stated that the form of recognition will, to a large 

 extent, depend on the amounts subscribed, but it is thought 

 that it might fitly include the provision of some fund for 



