84a REPORT— 1895. 



were secured by Robert Brown's researcbes, and he was incidentally led to these 

 researches by some difficulties in the construction of the seed of an Australian genus.' 

 Yet it may be remembered that he began his career as naturalist to Flinders's 

 expedition for the exploration of Australia. He returned to England with 4,000 

 ' for the most part new species of plants.' And these have formed the foundation 

 of our knowledge of the flora of that continent. Brown's chief work was done 

 between 1820 and 1840, and, as Sachs ' tells us, ' was better appreciated during 

 that time in Germany than in any other country.' 



MoDERy SCHOOI. 



The real founder of the modern teaching in this country in both branches of 

 biology I cannot doubt was Carpenter. The first edition of his admirable ' Prin- 

 ciples of Comparative Physiology ' was published in 1838, the last in 1854. All 

 who owe, as I do, a deep debt of gratitude to that book will agree with Huxley " 

 in regarding it as 'by far the best general survey of the whole field of life and of 

 the broad principles of biology which had been produced up to the time of its pub- 

 lication. Indeed,' he adds, ' although the fourth edition is now in many respects 

 out of date, I do not know its equal for breadth of view, sobriety of speculation, 

 and accuracy of detail.' 



The charm of a wide and philosophic survej' of the different forms under which 

 life presents itself could not but attract the attention of teachers. Kolleston elabo- 

 rated a course of instruction in zoology at Oxford in which the structures described in 

 the lecture-room were subsequently worked out in the laboratory. In 1872 Huxley 

 organised the memorable course in elementary biology at South Kensington which 

 has since, in its essential features, been adopted throughout the country. In the 

 following year, during Huxley's absence abroad through ill-health, I arranged, at 

 his request, a course of instruction on the same lines for the Vegetable Kingdom. 



That the development of the new teaching was inevitable can hardly be doubted, 

 and I for my part am not disposed to regret the share I took in it. But it was 

 not obvious, and certainly it was not expected, that it would to so lai'ge an extent- 

 cut the ground from under the feet of the old Natural History studies. The conse- 

 quences are rather serious, and I think it is worth while pointing them out. 



In a vast empire )ike our own there is a good deal of work to be done and a 

 good many posts to be filled, for which the old Natural History training was not 

 merely a useful but even a necessary preparation. But at the present time the univer- 

 sities almost entirely fail to supply men suited to the work. They neither care to 

 collect, nor have they the skilled aptitude for observation. Then, though this 

 country is possessed at home of incomparable stores of accumulated material, the 

 class of competent amateurs who were mostly trained at our universities and 

 who did such good service in working that material out is fast disappearing. It 

 may not be easy indeed in the future to fill important posts even in this country with 

 men possessing the necessary qualifications. But there was still another source of 

 naturalists, even more useful, which has practically dried up. It is an interesting 

 fact that the large majority of men of the last generation who have won dis- 

 tinction in this field have begun their career with the study of medicine. That the 

 kind of training that Natural History studies give is of advantage to students of 

 medicine which, rightly regarded, is itself a Natural History study, can hardly 

 be denied. But the exigencies of the medical curriculum have crowded them out, 

 and this, I am afraid, must be accepted as irremediable. I cannot refrain from 

 reading you, on this point, an extract from a letter which I have received from a 

 distinguished official lately entrusted with an important foreign mission. I should 

 add that he had himself been trained in the old way. 



' I have had my time, and must leave to younger men the delight of working 

 these interesting fields. Such chances never will occur again, for roads are now 

 being made and ways cut in the jungle and forest, and you have at hand all sorts of 

 trees level on the ground ready for study. These bring down with them orchids, ferns, 

 and climbers of many kinds, including rattan palms, &c. But, excellent as are the 

 officers who devote their energy to thus opening up this country, there is not one 



• Loc. cU., 139. 140. = Memorial Sketch, 67. 



