TEANSACTIONS OF SECTION D. 687 



had that power of graspinor large and far-reaching ideas, which, I do not douht, 

 would have brought him distinction in any branch of science. We owe to him the 

 classical discussion of the facts of plant distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 which is one of the corner-stones of modern geographical botany. He was one of 

 the earliest of distinguished naturalists who gave his adhesion to the theory of 

 Mr. Darwin. A man of simple and sincere piety, the doctrine of descent never 

 presented any difficulty to him. He will remain in our memories as a figure en- 

 dowed with a sweetness and elevation of character which may be compared eveu 

 •with that of Mr. Darwin himself. 



In De Bary we seem to have suffered no less a personal loss than in the case of 

 Gray. Though, before last year, I do not know that he had ever been in Eng- 

 land, so many of our botanists had worked under him that his influence was 

 widely felt amongst us. And it may be said that this was almost equally so in every 

 part of the civilised world. His position as a teacher was in this respect probably 

 unique, and the traditions of his methods of work must permanently aff"ect the pro- 

 gress of botany, and, indeed, have an even wider effect. This is not the occasion 

 to dwell on each of his scientific achievements. It is sufficient to say that we owe 

 to him the foundations of a rational vegetable pathology. He first grasped the 

 true conditions of parasitism in plants, and not content with working out the com- 

 plex phases of the life-history of the invading organism, he never lost sight of the 

 conditions which permitted or inhibited its invasion. He treated the problem, 

 whether on the side of the host or of the parasite, as a whole, as a biological 

 problem, in fact, in the widest sense. It is this thorough grasp of the conditions 

 of the problem that give such a peculiar value to his last published book, the 

 ' Lectures on Bacteria,' an admirable translation of which we owe to Professor 

 Balfour. To this I shall have again to refer. I must content myself with saying 

 now, that in this and all his work there is that note of highest excellence which 

 consists in lifting detail to the level of the widest generality. To a weak man this 

 is a pitfall, in which a firm grasp of fact is lost in rash speculation. But when, as 

 in De Bary's case, a true scientific insight is inspired by something akin to genius, 

 the most fruitful conceptions are the result. Yet De Bary never sacrificed exact- 

 ness to brilliancy, and to the inflexible love of truth which perA'aded both his work 

 and his personal intercourse we may trace the secret of the extraordinary influence 

 ■which he exerted over his pupils. 



As the head of one of the great national establishments of the country devoted 

 to the cultivation of systematic botany, I need hardly apologise for devoting a few 

 words to the present position of that branch of the science. Of its fundamental 

 importance I have myself no manner of doubt. But as my judgment may seem in 

 such a matter not wholly free from bias, I may fortify mj'self with an opinion 

 which can hardly be minimised in that way. The distinguished chemist. Professor 

 Lothar Meyer, perhaps the most brilliant worker in the field of theoretical 

 chemistry, finds himself, like the systematic botanist, obliged to defend the 

 position of descriptive science. And he draws his strongest argument from 

 Ijiology. ' The physiology of plants and animals,' he tells us, ' requires systematic 

 botany and zoology, together with the anatomy of the two kingdoms : each 

 speculative science requires a rich and well-ordered material, if it is not to lose 

 itself in empty and fruitless fantasies.' No one, of course, supposes that the 

 accumulation of plant specimens in herbaria is the mere outcome of a passion for 

 accumulating. But to do good systematic work requires high qualities of exacti- 

 tude, patience, and judgment. As I attempted to show on another occasion, the 

 world i? hardly sensible of the influence which the study of the subject has had 

 on its affairs. The school of Jeremy Bentham has left an indelible mark on the 

 social and legislative progress of our own time. Mill tells us that ' the proper 

 arrangement of a code of laws depends on the same scientific conditions as the 

 classifications in natural history ; nor could there,' he adds, ' be a better preparatory 

 discipline for that important function than the principles of a natural arrangement, 

 not only in the abstract, but in their actual application to the class of phenomena 

 for which they were first elaborated, and which are still the best school for learn- 

 ing their use.' He further tells us that of this Jeremy Bentham was perfectly 



