BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 429 
A most arduous work, which was only recently brought to a 
successful termination, was the publication of the ‘Genera 
Plantarum,” commenced in 1862. In this colossal undertaking, 
perhaps the most important work in systematic botany of our time, 
no doubt the chief share of the labour was done by Professor George 
Bentham, who devoted to it the whole of his time for over twenty 
years, but every part was gone over and worked through by Hooker, 
whose unequalled acquaintance with the science made him a most 
valuable coadjutor. 
The position of Director of Kew Gardens, which devolved on him 
in 1865, brought with it an enormous increase of work, both to 
maintain and to increase the state of efficiency in which that truly 
imperial institution had been left by his father. Year by year the 
value of Kew as a botanical centre has been expanded, until at the 
present day it is quite unequalled. Every part of the world sends its 
treasures to it, and from it distribution of men, material, and 
information radiates to all portions of our vast empire. 
__In 1868, he was elected President of the British Association, and. 
it was to this body at its Belfast meeting, in 1874, that he delivered 
an address, in which, while working out more fully his observations 
already made on Vepenthes and similar plants, he also gave a full 
historical description of the observations published on the habits of 
the Venus’ Fly-trap (Dionwa muscipula). This address is one of 
the earliest contributions to our knowledge of carnivorous plants. 
The compilation of the ‘‘Handbook of the New Zealand Flora” 
was completed in 1864, but the work was not published for the 
Colonial Government for nearly three years. This work, now out of 
print, is still the standard authority on the flora of these islands, and 
itis a remarkable testimony to the care and accuracy of Hooker’s. 
original work, that while a large number of new species have been 
added to the list during the twenty years which have intervened, 
very few errors have been detected in the publication. It is well 
known that he is both willing and desirous to bring out a new edition, 
and for the sake of the science, it is to be hoped that the Government 
- aeeeae will take steps to obtain his unrivalled services for 
e work. | 
Another important and laborious work of the same kind, entail- 
ing most patient and critical research, is the “Student’s Flora of the 
British Islands,” first brought out in 1870, and of which a second 
edition came out in 1878. An enormous fund of accurate and 
detailed information is compressed into its pages, and it is not 
excelled as a systematic guide to the plants growing in England; 
indeed, no other flora in any language approaches it in its clearness, 
conciseness, and fulness of essential details. 
In 1873, Hooker reached the highest post of honour attainable 
in England, being elected President of the Royal Society, a position 
held for the full term of five years. In the following year came out 
the first volume of the “Flora Indica,” a work still in progress. In 
1877, he visited the United States, and along with Professor Asa 
Gray and Dr. Hayden, made a scientific tour into the Western States, 
bringing back to Kew from Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California, 
