X Vlll 



Obituary Notice of Fellow deceased. 



essentially an instrument of research, and that a vital activity was a 

 nec essary condition of its usefulness. The continuance of this policy has led 

 to the enormous development of the Kew Herbarium by bequests and the 

 continuous influx of collections made by travellers and explorers. The 

 problem which had for some time weighed on Hooker's mind was how to 

 improve the classification of this vast amount of material and throw it into 

 a form more available for detailed research. 



For the preceding two centuries botanists had seen that the first step in 

 & sound classification of the vegetable kingdom was to gather species into 

 genera. The difficulty was to discard characters which were superficial and 

 to decide on those which correctly indicated a true affinity. The task com- 

 menced by Linnaeus had been in a great measure accomplished by the logical 

 spirit and method of the French school. In the early part of the last century 

 Endlicher had attempted to review the whole field with indifferent success. 

 Hooker and Thomson (" Introd. Ess.," 'Fl. Ind.,' p. 10) could only lament that 

 " so eminent a botanist .... has thought it necessary to encumber his 

 pages with characters of genera which must for ever remain enigmatical, 

 unless some happy chance should make us acquainted with the specimens of 

 the authors." Hooker felt that this sort of compilation at second hand was 

 worthless for any scientific end. A further and no less serious defect in 

 current taxonomy was the absence of any uniform standard. " A knowledge 

 of the relative importance of characters can only be acquired by long study ; 

 and, without a due appreciation of their value, no natural group can be 

 defined. Hence, many of the new genera which are daily added to our lists 

 rest upon trivial characters, and have no equality with those already in 

 existence." This may be taken to heart by those who are disposed to 

 estimate lightly the value of taxonomic work. Its successful prosecution 

 depends not merely on an insight into morphology, but still more on a 

 judicial power of co-ordinating evidence. John Stuart Mill bears eloquent 

 testimony to its value as a discipline in this respect. Jeremy Bentham does 

 no less, and it is scarcely too much to say that a study of the methods of 

 " classification in natural history " stimulated him in the pursuit of an ideal 

 jurisprudence. 



In I860, Hooker commenced with his friend George Bentham (Jeremy 

 Bentham's nephew) the ' Genera Plantarum,' and it occupied them con- 

 tinuously for the succeeding quarter of a century. The first portion was 

 issued in 1862, the concluding in 1883, Bentham only surviving its comple- 

 tion till the following year. The two worked together, but the major part of 

 the task was borne by Bentham, who, having independent means, was not 

 subject to the official and other calls upon his time which hampered Hooker.. 

 It is to be noted that the work was written throughout in the Latin language, 

 and the title, ' Genera Plantarum ad exemplaria imprimis in Herbariis 

 Kewensibus servata definita,' establishes the fact that it is entirely based 

 on material which is open to any subsequent investigator for verification. 



Something must be said as to the individual qualities of the partners in 



