292 Prominent Yorkshire Workers. 
work. It was at Dr. Spruce’s suggestion that Mr. Massee 
went to the West Indies and South America to study plants 
and collect orchids. He sent home Oncidium macranthum, 
the large golden-yellow flowered species, and one of the most 
handsome Orchids in cultivation; also Nanodes meduse 
(Medusa’s), an Orchid with lurid purple and deeply fringed 
flowers that give it a most sinister appearance. The Andes, 
notably the eastern slopes and the great Brazilian Plain are, 
in Mr. Massee’s opinion, far less known than darkest Africa, 
and from a botanical and zoological point of view there is 
no corner of the world that offers such a wide field to the 
explorer and collector. 
Among his many exciting experiences on this expedition 
were earthquakes. Being an only son, his mother prevailed 
upon him to stay at home on his return. So that we again 
see him dividing his energies between farming and botanical 
study, specialising in fungi and plant diseases. On his father’s 
death he came to Kew and worked in the herbarium as a 
free lance, and in 1893 was appointed Principal Assistant 
(Cryptogams). During the twenty years that Mr. Massee has 
spent at Kew it is not too much to say that he has done more 
than any man towards elucidating mysterious fungus diseases. 
His name is as familiar and almost as widely known as the 
nefarious plant diseases of which he has made a special study, 
He has written books and voluminous articles in the leading 
scientific journals of the day. Among his most useful works 
may be mentioned the ‘ Text-Book of Plant Diseases,” 
which. has been superseded by his ‘‘ Diseases of Cultivated 
Plants and Trees”’ (1910), a work that is necessary for the 
proper equipment of every gardener, farmer, or forester. 
“British Fungi, with a Chapter on Lichens,” is his most 
recent book, and this is beautifully illustrated by Miss Ivy 
Massee, his talented daughter. In collaboration with Professor 
Theobald he brought out the book, indispensable to rosarians, 
entitled the ‘“‘ Enemies of the Rose.” 
It is, however, as lecturer that Mr. Massee will best be 
remembered by those who have had the real pleasure of 
listening to him. He is a breezy Yorkshireman, and_ his 
perorations always ripple with good humour. He is beloved of 
Kew men, and an appreciation, obviously written by one who 
knows him well, appeared in the ‘‘ Kew Guild Journal,” 1908, 
from which the following extract is taken :—‘‘ No one who 
has heard George Massee lecture upon or talk about the 
department of science of which he has long been a past master, 
could think the subject uninteresting; on the contrary, they 
would probably say that it was as exciting as romance... . 
His method—if it be method, probably it is the man himself— 
is not to talk learnedly about things, the common fault of 
Naturalist, 
