440 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [May 
was appointed assistant director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, 
a position which he held for ten years. It was a decade of extraordinary 
activity in botanical exploration and in the study of herbarium collec- 
tions; and it was during this time that the preparation of a comprehen- 
sive and much needed work on the genera of plants was formulated, and 
happily the elaboration of the Genera plantarum was undertaken in 
collaboration with Mr. GrorcGE BENTHAM, and a part of the first volume 
of this monumental work appeared in 1862. 
Upon the death of Sir Witttam Jackson Hooker, the eminent 
director of the Kew Gardens, JosepH DALTON HooKER succeeded to the 
directorship, and this post he most successfully occupied for about 20 
years. During this time vast improvements were made at the Gardens, 
the collections at the Kew Herbarium were greatly augmented, important 
publications were completed, notably the Genera plantarum, and others 
were continued; but with all the onerous duties of this important office 
time was found for further botanical explorations in various parts of the 
world. In 1877 HooKER visited the United States, and in company 
with Dr. Asa Gray an expedition was made across the continent to 
California; the results of this journey were incorporated in a joint paper 
by Gray and Hooker which appeared in 188r. 
_ In 1885 Hooker retired from the directorship of Kew, but from that 
time until shortly before his death he continued actively but privately 
in independent taxonomic research. By far the greater amount of 
HooKker’s published work (and the number of titles exceeds 200) has 
been in floristics. Because of his comprehensive knowledge of botany 
and his broad conception, his productions have been masterly; but his 
constant interest in plant distribution and his numerous writings on this 
subject are of such a character as justly to give him the rank of an author- 
ity in this field. In fact it may be said that Hooker was here at his 
best. His papers on the geographical distribution of plants are full of 
originality, the facts are marshaled in a logical and convincing order, and 
the subject-matter is written in an attractive style, so that his pub- 
lished papers are among our most suggestive and reliable sources of infor- 
mation in this department of botanical science. 
The esteem and high regard in which Sir Joseph Datton HOOKER, 
as a man and scientist, was held by his contemporaries is indicated by 
the many honors extended to him by numerous scientific societies and 
learned organizations both at home and abroad; in several of these he 
took an active part for the attainment and advancement of scientific 
knowledge.—J. M. GREENMAN, Chicago. 
