THE EMINENT HOOKER BROTHERS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 4

THE EMINENT HOOKER BROTHERS

The Hookers of Kew. (17851911). By Mea Allan. Michael Joseph. 250 pp. Bibliography and Index. A small tuft of moss was the determining factor in the direction of William Hooker’s life. He was 20 years of age, already an authority on the plants of Norfolk, his herbarium being a model of perfection in nomenclature and usefulness. But this moss was new to him and was to lead him eventually to the great Sir Joseph Banks, who started him on exploratory travels; to the Chair of Botany at Glasgow University, where one of his great works was the enlarging and beautifying of the Botanic Garden; and finally to the Royal Garden at Kew. This was in the year 1829 when important alterations were mooted.

At the time Britain possessed no national or public botanic garden of any kind and the man Kew needed must be a botanist of authority who knew the plants of every country of the world. He must be able to classify and name plants unquestionably. He must be a true landscape gardener making the acres under his care worthy of the name of Botanic Garden. Also he must be able to handle men

and meet influential people, to be charming, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. William Hooker was this person par excellence. He was quite sure Kew could be made one of the finest establishments of the sort in the world. From the first the Gardens were open to the people and they loved them just as they do today. Gradually the acres were increased until there were nearly 650 from the small beginning of 11. Then began the enormous exchange system of economic plants all over the world—cincohona plantations to India for quinine; cork oaks to Australia; better tobacco to Natal; tea from China to Assam; coffee, cotton, spices to Brisbane—all via the nurseries and forcing-houses of Kew.

On his tours William had laid the firm foundations of his friendships with all the leading continental botanists, corresponding with them over the years, borrowing, lending, exchanging books and plant i ecimens. He received hundreds of thousands of letters in return and Kew has, bound in 76 quarto volumes, 29,000 letters from 4420 botanists. In addition to correspondence, William’s output of writing was staggering —major works, papers for various scientific journals, books dealing with the botanical results of scientific voyages, the editing of Botanical Magazines: he never wasted a single minute of any day. William’s son Joseph, on one of his journeys wrote to the family, “There are peculiar emotions consequent on visiting new countries for the

first time, which are perfectly indescribable.” This thrill of discovery was with him all his life, as each new land, even a barren rock, lifted from the sea. He went with Ross to the Antarctic;

he climbed in the Himalaya; he explored unknown tropical islands. He wrote long and varied letters sending plants when possible and always emphasising where his specimens were found—interesting, because he was to become the foremost authority on the geographical distribution of plants. In Kergulen’s Land be doubled the known flora, and

watched how far the algae extended. It was hard work. The hilltops were always covered with snow and frost and he wrote; “many of my best little lichens were gathered by hammering out the the tufts, or sitting on them till they thawed." In Fuegia, Joseph discovered a great number of English plants—thrift, the primrose, the starwort, the dandelion. He was drawn to his favourite theme “the diffusion of species over the surface of our earth.” How had these plants arrived in Fuegia? The seeds must have travelled thousands of miles over the stormiest ocean of the globe. Science was at the very beginning of the study of plant migration, and Joseph Hooker and Charles Darwin were groping towards the same conclusions in different fields. The one, the greatest botanist, the other, the greatest naturalist, of their time—together they were to upset the old Conformist idea of Creation and show it to be a steady progress of nature reaching back to the dawn of time.

When Darwin received a copy of the first part of Joseph’s “New Zealand Flora” with its important Introductory Essay, he wrote, “I have no remarks at all worth sending you, considering how perfect and elaborated an essay it is. As far as my judgment goes, it is the most important discussion on the points in question ever published.” In 1873, Sir Joseph Hooker was raised to the highest position any man of Science can hold—the Presidency of the Royal Society. Among the many honours showered upon Sir Joseph Hooker were three from New Zealand institutions: he was an honorary member of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury (1863); a silver medallist at the New Zealand Industrial Exhibition (1865); and an honorary member of the New Zealand Institute (1871). William and Joseph Hooker, father and son, individually and together tended, extended and enriched Kew Gardens by their prodigious knowledge and tremendous energy. Each was expert in many fields, each bad an intense respect and affection for the other. When the father had finished his work, the son carried it on. Between them they gave 105 years to the science of botany, and each was accorded a knighthood for his services. They worked, travelled and wrote massively—describing most of the world's plants and illustrating them themselves, for they both drew beautifully. Their maxim for drawing was: "proceed systematically as in any other pursuit Truth lies in correct observation.” Their books were immediately classics and have remained so. Anyone who has William Hooker’s “Jungermanniae” or Joseph Hooker’s “New Zealand Flora," in four volumes, will appreciate why. This excellent biography of two very remarkable men is further enhanced by a splendid selection of photographs and drawings.