XIV 
George Bent ham, B.R.S. 
the morning in studying its structure, with the aid of the 
introductory chapter of the c Flore/ succeeded in referring it 
to its order, genus, and species. The plant, Salvia pratensis , 
is not an easy one for a beginner. Encouraged by his success 
with it, he pursued the study of the native flora as a diversion, 
naming every plant he subsequently met with. 
At Montauban, where his father had purchased a country 
house, which the family occupied for about two years, young 
George Bentham passed what he always regarded as the 
most enjoyable period of his life. He was entered as a student 
in a Protestant theological college, and followed with ardour 
the courses of mathematics, Hebrew, and comparative philo- 
logy, the latter a favourite study in after life. At home, 
during the holidays, he occupied his time with drawing plants, 
learning Spanish, and with music, society, and dancing, of 
which latter he was passionately fond. It was a favourite 
boast of his, that at Montauban he had danced at thirty-four 
balls between Twelfth-night and Mardi-gras, of which thirteen 
were consecutive, and lasted from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Here, too, 
his mind was first opened to scientific and exotic botany, 
to which he was led by the works of De Candolle, by the 
appearance of the ‘ Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle/ and by 
a course of lectures under Benedict Prevost. This was fol- 
lowed by a devotion to ornithology, including shooting and 
stuffing birds, and that again by entomology, tabulating the 
phenomena of insect-life. Here, too, probably inspired by 
John Stuart Mill, who resided for some time with the family, 
his mind was turned to philosophy and the study of Lamarck’s 
works, beginning with the ‘ Systeme analytique des Connais- 
sances positives de Thomme/ only to give it up with disgust 
on reading that ‘ Dieu crea d’abord la matiere, 5 followed by 
the statement that Nature was the second thing created, and 
that this produced everything else. More to the purpose was 
his translation into French of his uncle’s Chrestomathia, which 
was a prelude to his becoming secretary to the great publicist 
at a later period. 
From Montauban Sir Samuel Bentham moved to a large 
