Vol. III. DECEMBER, 1887. • No. 32 



REMINISCENCES OF A NATURALIST, BIOGRAPH- 

 ICAL, ETC~I. 



He who has reached the meridian of hfe, finds himself at times 

 looking back and surveying the path he has followed, as a traveler 

 who has reached the summit of a hill, looks back from his eleva- 

 tion and traces the course of a river, through the valley or across 

 the plain he has just left behind. He sees in the distance some 

 peculiar point, someplace of restful peace where he halted at noon, 

 some dell or dingle that tempered the sunlight, a clump of flowers 

 or group of trees, beautiful in color and form, that lifted his 

 thought and spirit abo\^e toil of muscle and weariness of limb. He 

 recalls the singing of the birds and the music of the waters, and 

 the voice of the stranger he met upon the way. Sometimes these 

 wayside meetings led to pleasant acquaintanceship and lasting- 

 friendships. 



Memory's note book is full of leaves whose pages have never 

 felt the touch of pen and ink, but which nevertheless are crowded 

 closely with remembrances of men and things and circumstances, 

 incidents of contact, due to the movement and currents oi the 

 stream of human activity and intercourse, in which all are more or 

 less involved. 



According to the mood and temper of the moment of contact, 

 as well as to the character of our tastes and predilections, are the 

 character of our remembrances and the permanence of these im- 

 pressions or memories. 



THOMAS BRYDGES, BOTANIST. 



Among the many men whom I have met whose personality in 

 many ways was congenial to me was Thomas Brydges, or Bridges, 

 the botanist, par rxcclle?ice, though he took much interest in 

 other directions in natural history. Brydges was born in Eng- 

 land, and while a young man, if I remember rightly, studied bot- 

 any for a M'hile under the direction of Sir William Hooker at Kew 

 ■Gardens. Sir William was, as the present Sir Joseph Hooker is, 

 a distinguished botanist. 



Bridges married a niece of Hugh Cuming, the famous 'conch- 

 ologist. Cuming was a cabinet maker or carpenter by trade, 







