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HEINRICH ANTON DE BARY. 



Anton de Bary was born in Frankfurt on the 26th January, 1831, 

 and (lied at Strassburg on the 19th January, 1888. In a ' Journal 

 of Botany ' it seems hardly necessary to say more. There are no 

 readers of these pages to whom his name is not familiar — to most 

 his works are familiar. The weekly issue of the ■ Botanische Zeitung ' 

 brought it freshly before our eyes, the almost daily use of one or 

 other of his books will keep it there for many of us. To a smaller 

 circle in this country no such summons to memory is necessary — I 

 mean those who have known him. One is accustomed to the 

 platitude that a man's works are his monument. In de Bary's 

 case they are more — they are the story of his life in one sense. 

 When one surveys the work and measures the short span of the 

 years of its accomplishment, the reflection is obvious that there 

 was little room for more than a man's domestic life. De Bary 

 found roonv, however, for mental culture of a very wide kind. His 

 delight in art was at all times fresh and strong, and the last day 

 which the present writer passed in his company was largely spent 

 in our National Gallery and among the classical antiquities of the 

 British Museum. He seemed to forget there the great bodily pain 

 I know he was suffering and the mental anxiety I believe he then felt. 



The reproach of ignorance of systematic Botany is often 

 deservedly laid on morphologists and physiologists. It would be 

 the greatest mistake to lay it on de Bary. He had a remarkable 

 knowledge of the plants of the regions in which he lived and of the 

 Alps, — not only the flowering plants but the cryptogams as well 

 and he had a humorous contempt for the botanist who cared for 

 none of these things. In connection with this I may be allowed to 

 recal the only rebuke I ever received from him. I had declared, 

 in the course of a Sunday walk, — with the rashness of youth, — my 

 opinion of the monotonous character of the grasses. The only 

 reply was the suggestion that it would be a good thing to bring 

 him one or two named every morning, adding that the season 

 of the year was very favourable. Soon afterwards, in the course 

 of some experiments, I had infected a number of crucifers in 

 the Botanic Garden with Cyttopm candid us. The disease spread 

 among the few allied plants in the old garden, and there was 

 discovered one morning a dearth of material for illustrating a 

 lecture including that group. With evident amusement de Bary 

 asked me if there were any other natural orders to which I owed 

 a grudge. 



One recollection of his own boyhood will have interest for 

 readers in this country. His curiosity was greatly excited by hear- 

 ing his elders talk of the great disaster of the potato disease at the 

 first serious outbreak. 



The following extract from an obituary notice of him written by 

 me for the ■ Academy ' relates shortly the story of his life : 



Having entered the University of Berlin he came under the 

 influence of the celebrated Alexander Braun. He began at once 



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Journal of Botany. — Vol. 26. [March, 1888.] * 



