160 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
GEORGE STABLER 
(1839-1910). 
GEORGE STABLER, who did much to advance the knowledge of 
British Hepatice, died at Levens, Milnthorpe, Westm oreland, on 
the 4th of January. He was born at Craike, on the borders of 
Durham and Yorkshire, on the 3rd of Saptatalied 1839, and was 
a schoolfellow of Richard Spruce at Ganthorp, near Malton, 
Yorkshire. From Spruce he acquired his love for Hepatica, and 
Mr. Wallace in editing the Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon 
nega much help from Stabler for particulars of Spruce’s 
early li e rem to Levens, Westmoreland, when quite 
young, w ies he was tillage schoolmaster for many years, until the 
loss of his sight forced him to retire, and prevented him from 
continuing his BA sh oie work. He and two friends and 
neighbours, J. arnes and J. A. Aistindils, schoolmaster 
of Stavely, took ‘up the study of mosses, Fats! and lichens 
cor cogent On Saturdays they collected and me mpare 
remembers how he used to talk about Dr. Gough, the blind 
botanist of Kendal, who could distinguish plants by the feel and 
touch of his tongue on the stamens and pistil, or by drawi ing them 
across his lips; “but such processes were too coarse for use with 
Hepat eon 
Stabler’s work was chiefly that of a field naturalist. He 
corresponded with Lindberg, Spruce, Pearson, &c., and gave 
