THE DAE WIN CENTENAEY. 



227 



THE DARWIN CENTENARY, 



The Centenary celebration of the birth year of Charles Darwin was held 

 at Cambridge on June 22, the date coincidiDg with the fiftieth anniversary 

 of the publication of his " Origin of Species." The Royal Horticultural 

 Society, among other scientific societies, was invited by the University of 

 Cambridge to send a representative to take part in the festival, and the 

 Rev. Professor George Henslow, M.A., V.M.H., was appointed to represent 

 the Society. 



The following is the text of the Address presented from the Society to 

 the University by Professor Henslow, and appended is his account of the 

 proceedings at the festival : — 



On our own behalf, and on behalf of the Fellows of the Society 

 (numbering 10,500), we, the President and Council of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society, send Greeting to the Chancellor and Senate of the 

 Ancient University of Cambridge, on the occasion of their celebration of 

 the Centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the Jubilee of the 

 publication of his great work " The Origin of Species." 



Our Society recognizes quite as fully as the University the vast 

 impetus given to Biological Research by the laborious, painstaking, and 

 original investigations undertaken by Darwin. We recognize, also, the 

 peculiar indebtedness of Horticulture to this great Student of Nature, 

 who, by the publication of his own researches and thoughts, fixed the idea 

 of improvement by way of gradual development in the minds of thousands 

 of gardeners, and thus set in motion a vast mass of independent investi- 

 gations which, even if they have not always confirmed Darwin's theories, 

 have led to a greatly increased knowledge of some of the laws which 

 contribute to the production of improved forms of plants. 



Nor can we forget the enormous debt which the horticulturists and 

 botanists of the whole world owe to Charles Darwin for the legacy which 

 he left at his death for the production of the work which we now know as 

 " Index Kewensis " — a work which has simplified incalculably the abour 

 of all future investigations in dealing with species. 



And we feel ourselves particularly happy in being able to send this, 

 our Address, by the hand of Professor George Henslow, M. A.,V.M.H.,F.L.S., 

 etc., who is not only so well known by his own abundant work in the 



Royal Hoeticultueal Society, 

 Vincent Squaee, 



Westminstee, S.W. 



