Chapter 453

It is always a pleasure to me to receive a letter from you. I am very sorry to hear that you have been more troubled than usual with your old complaint. Any one who looked at you would think that you had passed through life with few evils, and yet you have had an unusual amount of suffering. As a turnkey remarked in one of Dickens' novels, "Life is a rum thing." (782/1. This we take to be an incorrect version of Mr. Roker's remark (in reference to Tom Martin, the Butcher), "What a rum thing Time is, ain't it, Neddy?" ("Pickwick," Chapter XLII.). A careful student finds that women are also apostrophised as "rum": see the remarks of the dirty-faced man ("Pickwick," Chapter XIV.).) As for myself, I have been better than usual until about a fortnight ago, when I had a cough, and this pulled me down and made me miserable to a strange degree; but my dear old wife insisted on my taking quinine, and, though I have very little faith in medicine, this, I think, has done me much good. Well, we are both so old that we must expect some troubles: I shall be seventy-three on Feb. 12th. I have been glad to hear about the pine-leaves, and you are the first man who has confirmed my account that they are drawn in by the base, with a very few exceptions. (782/2. "The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms," 1881, page 71.) With respect to your Wandsworth case, I think that if I had heard of it before publishing, I would have said nothing about the ledges (782/3. "Ledges of Earth on Steep Hill-sides" (ibid., page 278).); for the Grisedale case (782/4. "The steep, grass-covered sides of a mountainous valley in Westmorland, called Grisedale, were marked in many places with innumerable, almost horizontal, little ledges...Their formation was in no way connected with the action of worms (and their absence is an inexplicable fact)...(ibid., page 282.), mentioned in my book and observed whilst I was correcting the proof-sheets, made me feel rather doubtful. Yet the Corniche case (782/5. Ibid., page 281.) shows that worms at least aid in making the ledges. Nevertheless, I wish I had said nothing about the confounded ledges. The success of this worm book has been almost laughable. I have, however, been plagued with an endless stream of letters on the subject; most of them very foolish and enthusiastic, but some containing good facts, which I have used in correcting yesterday the "sixth Thousand."

Your friend George's work about the viscous state of the earth and tides and the moon has lately been attracting much attention (782/6. Published in the "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society," 1879, 1880, 1881.), and all the great judges think highly of the work. He intends to try for the Plumian Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Cambridge, which is a good and honourable post of about 800 pounds a year. I think that he will get it (782/7. He was elected Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy in 1883.) when Challis is dead, and he is very near his end. He has all the great men--Sir W. Thomson, Adams, Stokes, etc.--on his side. He has lately been chief examiner for the Mathematical Tripos, which was tremendous work; and the day before yesterday he started for Southampton for a five-weeks' tour to Jamaica for complete rest, to see the Blue Mountains, and escape the rigour of the early spring. I believe that George will some day be a great scientific swell. The War Office has just offered Leonard a post in the Government Survey at Southampton, and very civilly told him to go down and inspect the place, and accept or not as he liked. So he went down, but has decided that it would not be worth his while to accept, as it would entail his giving up his expedition (on which he had been ordered) to Queensland, in Australia, to observe the Transit of Venus. (782/8. Major Leonard Darwin, late R.E., served in several scientific expeditions, including the Transits of Venus of 1874 and 1882.) Dear old William at Southampton has not been very well, but is now better. He has had too much work--a willing horse is always overworked--and all the arrangements for receiving the British Association there this summer have been thrown on his shoulders.

But, good Heavens! what a deal I have written about my sons. I have had some hard work this autumn with the microscope; but this is over, and I have only to write out the papers for the Linnean Society. (782/9. i. "The Action of Carbonate of Ammonia on the Roots of Certain plants." [Read March 16th, 1882.] "Journ. Linn. Soc." Volume XIX., 1882, page 239. ii. "The Action of Carbonate of Ammonia on Chlorophyll-bodies." [Read March 6th, 1882.] Ibid., page 262.) We have had a good many visitors; but none who would have interested you, except perhaps Mrs. Ritchie, the daughter of Thackeray, who is a most amusing and pleasant person. I have not seen Huxley for some time, but my wife heard this morning from Mrs. Huxley, who wrote from her bed, with a bad account of herself and several of her children; but none, I hope, are at all dangerously ill. Farewell, my kind, good friend.

Many thanks about the picture, which if I survive you, and this I do not expect, shall be hung in my study as a perpetual memento of you.

(782/10. The concluding chapter of the "Life and Letters" gives some account of the gradual failure in health which was perceptible in the last year of Mr. Darwin's life. He died on April 19th, 1882, in his 74th year.)

THE END.

INDEX.

INDEX.

[The German a-, o-, u-diaeresis are treated as a, o, u, not as ae, oe, ue.]

Aberrant genera, Darwin's work on.

Abich, on Vesuvius.

Abinger, excavations of Roman villa at. -plants from.

Abinger Hall, Darwin visits. -Lord Farrer's recollections of Darwin at.

Abiogenesis, Huxley's address on Biogenesis and.

Abortion, Romanes on.

Abrolhos, plants from the.

Abromia.

Abrus precatorius, dispersal of seeds.

Abstract, Darwin's dislike of writing papers in.

Abstract, the name applied by Darwin to the "Origin."

Abutilon, F. Muller's experiments on.

Abyssinia, flora of.

"Academy," Darwin's opinion of the.

Acanthaceae.

Acceleration of development, Cope and Hyatt on retardation and. -reference in the "Origin" to.

Accumulation, of deposits in relation to earth-movements. -of specific differences. -of sterility. -of varieties.

Accuracy, difficult to attain. -the soul of Natural History.

Aceras, fertilisation of. -monstrous flower.

Acineta, Darwin unable to fertilise.

Aconitum, peloria and reversion.

Acropera, atrophy of ovules. -Darwin's mistake over. -fertilisation of. -relation to Gongora. -J. Scott's work on.

Acropera Loddigesii, abnormal structure of ovary. -Darwin's account of flower. -artificial fertilisation. -relation to A. luteola. -J. Scott's observations. -two sexual conditions of. -A. luteola, Darwin's observations on. -fertilisation of. -flowers of. -structure of ovary.

Adaptation, Darwin's difficulty in understanding. -hybrids and. -not the governing law in Geographical Distribution. -more clearly seen in animals than plants. -Natural Selection and. -in orchids. -resemblances due to. -in Woodpecker.

Adenanthera pavonina, seed-dispersal by Parrots.

Adenocarpus, a Mediterranean genus in the Cameroons.

Adlumia.

Adoxa, difference in flowers of same plant.

Aecidium elatinum, Witches'-Broom fungus.

Aegialitis Sanctae-helenae.

Aegilops triticoides, hybrids.

Affaiblissement, A. St. Hilaire on.

Africa, connection with Ceylon. -connection with India. -continent of Lemuria and. -considered by Murchison oldest continent. -plants of equatorial mountains of.

Africa (East,) coral reefs on coast.

Africa (South), plants of. -relation of floras of Western Europe to.

Africa (West), botanical relation to Java.

Agassiz, Alex., "Three Cruises of the 'Blake.'" -his belief in evolution the result of F. Muller's writings. -account of Florida Coral-reefs. -letters to. -visits Down.

Agassiz, Louis Jean Rodolphe (1807-73): entered a college at Bienne at the age of ten, and from 1822 to 1824 he was a student at the Academy of Lausanne. Agassiz afterwards spent some years as a student in the Universities of Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich, where he gained a reputation as a skilled fencer. It was at Heidelberg that his studies took a definite turn towards Natural History. He took a Ph.D. degree at Erlangen in 1829. Agassiz published his first paper in "Isis" in 1828, and for many years devoted himself chiefly to Ichthyology. During a visit to Paris he became acquainted with Cuvier and Alexander von Humboldt; in 1833, through the liberality of the latter, he began the publication of his "Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles," and in 1840 he completed his "Etudes sur les Glaciers." In 1846 Agassiz went to Boston, where he lectured in the Lowell Institute, and in the following year became Professor of Geology and Zoology at Cambridge. During the last twenty-seven years of his life Agassiz lived in America, and exerted a great influence on the study of Natural History in the United States. In 1836 he received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London, and in 1861 he was selected for the Copley Medal of the Royal Society. In 1873 Agassiz dictated an article to Mrs. Agassiz on "Evolution and Permanence of Type," in which he repeated his strong conviction against the views embodied in the "Origin of Species." See "Life, Letters, and Works of Louis Agassiz," by Jules Marcou, 2 volumes, New York, 1896; "Louis Agassiz: his Life and Correspondence," edited by Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, 2 volumes, London, 1885; "Smithsonian Report," 1873, page 198. -attack on "Origin." -Darwin's criticism of book on Brazil. -Darwin's opinion of. -views on creation of species. -on geographical distribution. -"Methods of Study" by. -misstatement of Darwin's views. -Walsh on. -"Etudes sur les Glaciers." -Darwin on glacier work of. -on glaciers in Ceara Mts. -glacier-ice-lake theory of Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. -on glacier moraines. -on rock-cavities formed by glacier-cascades. -on Darwin's theory. -on Geology of the Amazons. -doubts recent upheaval of Patagonia. -mentioned.

Age of the world.

Aggressive plants, introduction of.

Agricultural Society, experiments on potatoes.

Airy, H. letter to.

Albemarle Island, Darwin's collection of plants from. -volcanoes of.

Aldrovanda.

Alerse ("Alerce"), occurrence in Chiloe.

Algae, movement of male-cells to female organ.

Alisma, F. Muller's observations on. -submerged flowers of.

Alisma macrophylla, circumnutation of.

Allbutt, Prof. Clifford, on sperm-cells.

Allen, Grant, review by Romanes of his "Physiological Aesthetics."

Allen, J.A., on colours of birds. -on mammals and birds of Florida.

Allogamy, use of term.

Almond, seedling peaches resembling.

Alopecurus pratensis, fertilisation of.

Alpine floras, Arctic and. -of Azores, Canaries and Madeira. -absence of, in southern islands. -Ball on origin of flora. -Darwin's work on. -of United States. -existence prior to Glacial period. -Ice-action in New Zealand, and. -Ball on origin of.

Alpine insects.

Alpine plants. -change due to transplanting. -slight change in isolated forms. -as evidence of continental land at close of Glacial period.

Alps, Australian. -Murchison on structure of. -submergence. -Tyndall's book on.

Alternate generations, in Hydrozoa.

Amazonia, Insects of.

Amazons, L. Agassiz on glacial phenomena in valley of. -L. Agassiz on geology of. -Bates on lepidoptera of. -sedimentation off mouth of.

Amber, extinct plants preserved in.

Amblyopsis, a blind cave-fish, effect of conditions on.

Ameghino, Prof., discovery of Neomylodon Listai.

America (North), are European birds blown to? -Falconer on elephants. -fauna and flora of Japan and. -flora of. -mammalian fauna. -introduction of European weeds. -subsidence during Glacial period. -western European plants and flora of. -contrast during Tertiary period between South and. -former greater distinction between fauna of South and. -glaciation of South and. -Rogers on coal-fields.

America (South), Bollaert's "Antiquities" of. -Araucarian fossil wood from. -Carabi of. -elevation of coast. -fauna of. -floras of Australia and. -geology of. -Darwin's "Geological Observations" on. -deposition of sediment on coast. -European plants in. -frequency of earthquakes. -D. Forbes on geology of. -W. Jameson on geology of. -D'Orbigny on. -volcanic eruptions. -Wallace opposed to continent uniting New Zealand, Australia and.

American War.

Ammonia, Darwin's work on effect on roots of carbonate of.

Ammonites, degeneration of. -reversion. -of S. America.

Amsinckia.

Amsinckia spectabilis, dimorphism of.

Anacamptis (=Orchis pyramidalis), fertilisation of.

Anacharis (=Elodea Canadensis), spread of.

Analogy, difference between homology and.

Anamorphism, Huxley on.

Anatifera, illustrating difficulty in nomenclature.

Anatomy of Vertebrata, Owen's attack on Darwin and Lyell in.

"Ancient Sea Margins," by R. Chambers.

Anderson-Henry, Isaac (1799?-1884): of Edinburgh, was educated as a lawyer, but devoted himself to horticulture, more particularly to experimental work on grafting and hybridisation. As President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh he delivered two addresses on "Hybridisation or Crossing of Plants," of which a full abstract was published in the "Gardeners' Chronicle," April 13th, 1867, page 379, and December 21st, 1867, page 1296. See obit. notice in "Gardeners' Chronicle," September 27th, 1884, page 400. -letter to.

Andes, Darwin on geology of. -high-road for European plants. -comparatively recent origin.

Anemophilous plants, Delpino's work on.

Angiosperms, origin of.

Angraecum sesquipedale, Duke of Argyll on.

Animal Intelligence, Romanes on.

Animals, difference between plants and. -resemblance to plants.

Annuals, adapted to short seasons. -Hildebrand on percentages of.

Anoplotherium, occurrence in Eocene of S. America.

Ansted, David Thomas, F.R.S. (1814-80): Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, Professor of Geology at King's College, London, author of several papers and books on geological subjects (see "Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc." Volume XXXVII., page 43.) -letter to.

Antarctic continent, Darwin on existence of Tertiary. -hypothetical.

"Antarctic Flora," Sir J.D. Hooker's.

Antarctic floras. -Darwin at work on.

Antarctic islands, plants of.

Antarctic Land.

"Anti-Jacobin," quiz on Erasmus Darwin in.

"Antiquity of Man," Sir Charles Lyell's. -cautious views on species. -Darwin's criticism of. -Extract on Natural Selection from. -Falconer on. -Owen's criticism on.

Antirrhinum, peloric flowers.

Ants, account in "Origin" of Slave-. -Forel's work on. -Moggridge on Harvesting-. -F. Muller's observations on neuter. -storing leaves for plant-culture.

Apathus, living in nests of Bombus.

Apes, comparison as regards advance in intellect between man and. -ears of anthropoid.

Aphides, absence of wings in viviparous.

Aphis, Huxley on.

Apostasia, morphology of flowers.

Appalachian chain, Rogers on cleavage of.

Apteryx, Owen on. -wings of.

Aquilegia, Hooker and Thomson on. -variation in. -peloria and reversion.

Arachis hypogaea, Darwin on.

Arachnidae.

Araucaria, abundant in Secondary period.

Araucarian wood, fossil in S. America.

Arca, Morse on.

Archaeopteryx.

Archer-Hind, R.D., translation of passage from Plato by.

Archetype, Owen's book on. -Owen's term.

d'Archiac's "Histoire des Progres de la Geologie." -candidate for Royal Society Foreign list.

Arctic animals, protective colours.

Arctic climate, cause of present.

Arctic expeditions, Darwin on.

Arctic floras. -relation between Alpine and. -relation between Antarctic and. -Hooker's Essay on. -Darwin's admiration of Hooker's Essay. -migration of.

Arctic regions, few plants common to Europe and N. America not ranging to. -range of plants. -northern limit of vegetation formerly lower. -ice piled up in. -previous existence of plants in.

Arenaria verna, range.

Argus pheasant, colour. -unadorned head.

Argyll, Duke of, attack on Romanes in "Nature." -rejoinder by Romanes in "Nature." -Hooker on. -letter to. -"Reign of Law" by.

Aristolochia, fertilisation of.

Aristotle, reference to.

Ark, Fitz-Roy on extinction of Mastodon owing to construction of.

Armadillo.

Army, measurement of soldiers of U.S.A.

Artemia, Schmankewitsch's experiments on.

Ascension Island, plants of. -earth-movements. -volcanic rocks.

Ascidians, budding of.

Asclepiadeae, fertilisation of.

Ash, comparison of peat and coal.

Asher, Dr., sends Russian wheat to Darwin.

Ashley.

Ashley Heath, Mackintosh on boulders of.

Askenasy, E., on Darwinism.

Aspicarpa.

Ass, hybrids between mare and.

Asterias.

Astragalus hypoglottis, range of.

Astronomical causes, crust-movements due to.

Asturian plants in Ireland.

Atavism, use of term by Duchesne. -Kollmann on.

Athenaeum Club, Huxley's election.

"Athenaeum," correspondence on Darwin's statements on rate of increase of elephants. -Darwin's opinion of. -abuse of Darwin.

Atlantic islands, peculiar genera and their origin.

Atlantis, America and. -Canary I. and. -Darwin's disbelief in. -Heer's map. -Wollaston's.

Atolls, Darwin's wish for investigation by boring of coral. -Darwin on Murray's theory. -Darwin's work on.

Atomogenesis, term suggested as substitute for pangenesis.

Atriplex, buried seeds found in sandpit near Melrose.

Attica, Gaudry on fossil animals.

Auckland Island, flora.

Audubon, J.J., on antics of birds during courtship. -"Ornithological Biography."

Aurelia, Romanes on.

Auricula, dimorphism of. -experiments on.

Austen, Godwin, on changes of level on English coast.

Australia, caves of. -character of fauna. -flora of. -Hooker on flora. -relation of flora to S. America. -relation of flora to S. Africa. -European plants in. -local plants in S.W. -naturalised plants. -plants on mountains. -fossil plants. -dichogamy of trees in. -as illustrating rate and progress of evolution. -Mastodon from. -products of, compared with those of Asia. -submergence.

Australian savages and Natural Selection.

Australian species, occurrence in Malay Archipelago and Philippines.

Autobiographical recollections, Charles Darwin's.

Autobiography, extract from Darwin's.

Autogamy, Kerner's term.

Automatism, Huxley's Essay.

Avebury, Lord. -address at British Association meeting at York (1881). -on the Finns and Kjokken moddings. -letters to. -on the "Origin." -"Prehistoric Times." -on the Progress of Science. -on Seedlings. -story of Darwin told by. -Darwin regrets his entrance into politics. -on Ramsay's lake-theory.

Averrhoa, Darwin's work on.

Axell, Severin, book on fertilisation of plants.

Axon, W.E., letter from Darwin to Mrs. E. Talbot published by.

Aye Aye, Owen on the.

Azara.

Azores, organic relation with America. -birds. -European birds as chance wanderers to. -erratic blocks. -flora. -European plants in. -Miocene beds in. -relation to Madeira and Canaries. -Watson on the. -Orchids from. -mentioned.

Babies, habit of clutching objects.

Babington, Prof. Charles C., at the British Association (Manchester, 1861). -"British Flora." -Darwin sends seeds of Atriplex to.

Baden-Powell, Prof.

Baer.

Bagehot, W., article in "Fortnightly Review" on Physics and Politics.

Bahia Blanca, collection of plants from.

Bailey, on Heterocentron roseum.

Baillon, on pollen-tubes of Helianthemum.

Baker's Flora of the Mauritius and Seychelles.

Balancement, G. St. Hilaire's law of.

Balanidae, Darwin's work on.

Balanus, questions of nomenclature.

Balfour, F.M. (1851-82): Professor of Animal Morphology at Cambridge. He was born 1851, and was killed, with his guide, on the Aiguille Blanche, near Courmayeur, in July 1882. (See "Life and Letters," III., page 250.) -letter to. -mentioned.

Ball, J., on origin of Alpine flora.

Ball, P., "The effects of Use and Disuse."

Balsaminaceae, genera of.

Banks' Cove, volcano of.

Barber, C., on graft-hybrids of sugar-cane.

Barber, Mrs., on Papilio nireus.

Barberry, abundance in N. America. -dispersal of seeds by birds. -Lord Farrer and H. Muller on floral mechanism. -movement of stamens.

Barbs, see Pigeons.

Bardfield Oxlip (Primula elatior).

Barnacles, Darwin's work on. -metamorphosis in. -F. Muller on. -nomenclature. -of Secondary Period. -advance in. -complemental males compared with plants.

Barneoud, on irregular flowers.

"Baronne Prevost," Rivers on the rose.

Barrande, Joachim (died 1883): devoted himself to the investigation of the Palaeozoic fossils of Bohemia, his adopted country. His greatest work was the "Systeme Silurien de la Boheme," of which twenty-two volumes were published before his death. He was awarded the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society in 1855. Barrande propounded the doctrine of "colonies." He found that in the Silurian strata of Bohemia, containing a normal succession of fossils, exceptional bands occurred which yielded fossils characteristic of a higher zone. He named these bands "colonies," and explained their occurrence by supposing that the later fauna represented in these "precursory bands" had already appeared in a neighbouring region, and that by some means communication was opened at intervals between this region and that in which the normal Silurian series was being deposited. This apparent intercalation of younger among older zones has now been accounted for by infoldings and faulting of the strata. See J.E. Marr, "On the Pre- Devonian Rocks of Bohemia," "Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc." Volume XXXVI., page 591 (1880); also "Defense des Colonies," by J. Barrande (Prag, 1861), and Geikie's "Text-book of Geology" (1893), page 773. -candidature for Royal medal. -candidate for Royal Society foreign list. -work on Colonies. -Lyell on work of.

Barriers to plant distribution in America.

Barrow, on Emberiza longicauda. -"Travels in S. Africa."

Barrow, Sir J., connection with naval expeditions.

Barrow, germination of seeds from a.

Bartlett, Abraham Dee (1812-97): was resident superintendent of the Zoological Society's Gardens in Regent's Park from 1859 to 1897. He communicated several papers to the Zoological Society. His knowledge was always at the service of Mr. Darwin, who had a sincere respect for him. -letters to.

Barton, on trees of N. America.

Basalt, association with granite. -separation of trachyte and.

Basques, H. Christy on the. -Hooker on Finns and.

Bastian, "The Beginnings of Life."

Bat, natural selection and increase in size of wings.

Bates, Henry Walter (1825-92): was born at Leicester, and after an apprenticeship in a hosiery business he became a clerk in Allsopp's brewery. He did not remain long in this uncongenial position, for in 1848 he embarked for Para with Mr. Wallace, whose acquaintance he had made at Leicester some years previously. Mr. Wallace left Brazil after four years' sojourn, and Bates remained for seven more years. He suffered much ill- health and privation, but in spite of adverse circumstances he worked unceasingly: witness the fact that his collection of insects numbered 14,000 specimens. He became Assistant Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society in 1864, a post which he filled up to the time of his death in 1892. In Mr. Clodd's interesting memoir prefixed to his edition of the "Naturalist on the Amazons," 1892, the editor pays a warm and well-weighed tribute to Mr. Bates's honourable and lovable personal character. See also "Life and Letters," II., page 380. -"A Naturalist on the Amazons." -Darwin's opinion of his work. -on insect fauna of Amazon Valley. -on lepidoptera of Amazons. -letter from Hooker to. -letters to. -letter to Hooker from. -Darwin reviews paper by. -on flower of Monochaetum. -on insects of Chili. -supplies Darwin with facts for sexual selection.

Bateson, Miss A., on cross fertilisation in inconspicuous flowers.

Bateson, W., on breeding lepidoptera in confinement. -Mendel's "Principles of Heredity."

Batrachians, Kollmann on rudimentary digits.

Bauer, F., drawings by.

Bauhinia, sleep-movements of leaves.

Beaches, S. American raised.

"Beagle" (H.M.S.), circumstance of Darwin joining. -Darwin's views on species when on. -FitzRoy and voyage of. -return of. -voyage.

Beans, holes bitten by bees in flowers. -extra-floral nectaries of.

Bear, comparison with whale. -modification of.

Beaton, Donald (1802-63): Biographical notices in the "Journal of Horticulture" and the "Cottage Gardener," XIII., page 153, and "Journ. Hort." 1863, pages 349 and 415, are referred to in Britten & Boulger's "Biographical Index of Botanists," 1893. Dr. Masters tells us that Beaton had a "first-rate reputation as a practical gardener, and was esteemed for his shrewdness and humour." -Darwin on work of. -on Pelargonium.

Beatson, on land birds in S. Helena.

Beaufort.

Beaufort, Captain, asks Darwin for information as to collecting.

Beaumont, Elie de (1798-1874): was a pupil in the Ecole Polytechnique and afterwards in the Ecole des Mines. In 1820 he accompanied M. Brochant de Villiers to England in order to study the principles of geological mapping, and to report on the English mines and metallurgical establishments. For several years M. de Beaumont was actively engaged in the preparation of the geological map of France, which was begun in 1825, and in 1835 he succeeded M. B. de Villiers in the Chair of Geology at the Ecole des Mines. In 1853 he was elected Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy, and in 1861 he became Vice-President of the Conseil General des Mines and a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Elie de Beaumont is best known among geologists as the author of the "Systemes des Montagnes" and other publications, in which he put forward his theories on the origin of mountain ranges and on kindred subjects. ("Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc." Volume XXXI.; "Proc." page xliii, 1875.) -on lines of elevation. -on elevation in Cordilleras. -elevation-crater theory. -Darwin's disbelief in views and work of. -on lava and dykes. -Lyell's refutation of his theory. -measurement of natural inclination of lava-streams.

Beauty, criticism by J. Morley of Darwin's phraseology in regard to. -discussion on. -lepidoptera and display of. -Wallace on. -Darwin's discussion on origin. -in female animals. -in plumage of male and female birds. -of seeds and fruits. -Shaw on. -standards of.

Bedford, flint implements found near.

Beech, in Chonos I. -in T. del Fuego and Chili. -Miquel on distribution.

Bee-Ophrys (Ophrys apifera), see Bee-Orchis.

Bee-Orchis, Darwin's experiments on crossing. -fertilisation. -self-fertilisation. -intermediate forms between Ophrys arachnites and.

Bees, combs. -Haughton on cells of. -and instinct. -referred to in "Descent of Man." -New Zealand clover and. -acquisition of power of building cells. -Darwin's observations on. -agents in fertilisation of papilionaceous flowers. -as pollen collectors. -difference between sexes. -H. Muller on. -and parthenogenesis. -regular lines of flight at Down.

Beet, graft-hybrids.

Beete-Jukes, alluded to in De la Beche's presidential address.

Beetles, bivalves distributed by. -Forel's work on. -nest-inhabiting. -stag-. -stridulating organs.

"Befruchtung der Blumen," H. Muller's, the outcome of Darwin's "Fertilisation of Orchids."

Begonia, monstrous flowers. -B. frigida, Hooker on.

Begoniaceae, genera of.

Behring Straits, spreading of plants from.

Belize, coral reefs near.

Bell, on Owen's "Edinburgh Review" article.

Bell, Sir C., "Anatomy of Expression."

Belt, T., on conspicuously coloured animals distasteful to birds. -letter to. -"The Naturalist in Nicaragua."

Ben Nevis, Ice-barrier under.

Benson, Miss, on Chalazogamy in Amentiferae.

Bentham, George (1800-83): son of Sir Samuel Bentham, and nephew of Jeremy, the celebrated authority on jurisprudence. Sir Samuel Bentham was at first in the Russian service, and afterwards in that of his own country, where he attained the rank of Inspector-General of Naval Works. George Bentham was attracted to botany during a "caravan tour" through France in 1816, when he set himself to work out the names of flowers with De Candolle's "Flore Francaise." During this period he entered as a student of the Faculte de Theologie at Tours. About 1820 he was turned to the study of philosophy, probably through an acquaintance with John Stuart Mill. He next became the manager of his father's estates near Montpellier, and it was here that he wrote his first serious work, an "Essai sur la Classification des Arts et Sciences." In 1826 the Benthams returned to England, where he made many friends, among whom was Dr. Arnott; and it was in his company that Bentham, in 1824, paid a long visit to the Pyrenees, the fruits of which was his first botanical work, "Catalogue des Plantes indigenes des Pyrenees, etc." 1826. About this time Bentham entered Lincoln's Inn with a view to being called to the Bar, but the greater part of his energies was given to helping his Uncle Jeremy, and to independent work in logic and jurisprudence. He published his "Outlines of a New System of Logic" (1827), but the merit of his work was not recognised until 1850. In 1829 Bentham finally gave up the Bar and took up his life's work as a botanist. In 1854 he presented his collections and books (valued at 6,000 pounds) to the Royal Gardens, Kew, and for the rest of his life resided in London, and worked daily at the Herbarium. His work there began with the "Flora of Hong Kong," which was followed by that of Australia published in 1867 in seven volumes octavo. At the same time the "Genera Plantarum" was being planned; it was begun, with Dr. Hooker as a collaborator, in 1862, and concluded in 1883. With this monumental work his labours ended; "his strength...suddenly gave way...his visits to Kew ended, and lingering on under increasing debility, he died of old age on September 10th last" (1883.) The amount of work that he accomplished was gigantic and of the most masterly character. In speaking of his descriptive work the writer (Sir J.D. Hooker) of the obituary notice in "Nature" (October 2nd, 1884), from which many of the above facts are taken, says that he had "no superior since the days of Linnaeus and Robert Brown, and he has left no equal except Asa Gray" ("Athenaeum," December 31st, 1850; "Contemporary Review," May, 1873; "George Bentham, F.R.S." By Sir J.D. Hooker, "Annals Bot."