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George Bentham CMG, FRS (
September 22,
1800–
September 10,
1884) was an
English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".
He was born in Stoke near
Portsmouth. His father, Sir
Samuel Bentham, was the only brother of
Jeremy Bentham. George Bentham had neither a school nor a college education, but at an early age acquired the power of giving sustained and concentrated attention to any subject that occupied him. He also had a remarkable linguistic aptitude. By the age of seven he could speak
French,
German and
Russian, and he learned
Swedish during a short residence in
Sweden when little older. At the close of the war with
France, the Benthams made a long tour through that country, staying two years at
Montauban, where Bentham studied
Hebrew and
mathematics in the Protestant Theological School. They eventually settled in the neighborhood of
Montpellier where Sir Samuel purchased a large estate.
George Bentham became attracted to botanical studies by applying to them his uncle’s logical methods, and not by any special interest in natural history. While studying at
Angouleme he came across a copy of
A. P. de Candolle’s
Flore française, and he became interested in the analytical tables for identifying plants. He immediately proceeded to test their use on the first plant he saw. The result was successful and he continued to apply it to every plant he came across. A visit to London in
1823 brought him into contact with the brilliant circle of English botanists. In
1826, at the pressing invitation of his uncle, he agreed to act as his secretary, at the same time entering at Lincolns Inn and reading for the bar. He was called in due time and in
1832 held his first and last brief. The same year Jeremy Bentham died, leaving his property to his nephew. His father’s inheritance had fallen to him the previous year. He was now in a position of modest independence, and able to pursue wholeheartedly his favorite studies. For a time these were divided between botany, jurisprudence and logic, in addition to editing his father’s professional papers.
Bentham’s first publication was his
Catalogue des plantes indigènes des Pyrénées et du Bas Languedoc (Paris,
1826), the result of a careful exploration of the
Pyrenees in company with
G. A. Walker Arnott (1799 - 1868), afterwards professor of botany in the university of
Glasgow. It is interesting to notice that in it Bentham adopted the principle from which he never deviated, of citing nothing at second-hand. This was followed by articles on various legal subjects: on codification, in which he disagreed with his uncle, on the laws affecting larceny and on the law of real property. But the most remarkable production of this period was the
Outline of a New System of Logic, with a Critical Examination of Dr Whately’s Elements of Logic (
1827). In this the principle of the quantification of the predicate was first explicitly stated. This
Stanley Jevons declared to be undoubtedly the most fruitful discovery made in abstract logical science since the time of
Aristotle. Before sixty copies had been sold the publisher became bankrupt and the stock went for wastepaper. The book passed into oblivion, and it wasn't till
1873 that Bentham’s claims to priority were finally vindicated against those of Sir
William Hamilton by
Herbert Spencer. In
1836 he published his
Labiatarum genera et species. In. preparing this work he visited, between 1830-1834, every European herbarium, several more than once. The following winter was passed in
Vienna, where he produced his
Commentationes de Leguminosarum generibus, published in the annals of the Vienna Museum. In
1842 he moved to Pontrilas in
Herefordshire. His chief occupation for the next few years was his contributions to the
Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, which was being carried on by his friend,
A. P. de Candolle. In all these dealt with some 4,730 species.
In 1854 he found the maintenance of a herbarium and library too expensive. He therefore offered them to the government on the understanding that they should form the foundation of such necessary aids to research in the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. At the same time he contemplated the abandonment of botanical work. However, he yielded to the persuasion of Sir
William Jackson Hooker,
John Lindley and other scientific friends. In
1855 he took up his residence in London, and worked at Kew for five days a week, with a brief summer holiday, from this time onwards till the end of his life.
In
1857 the government sanctioned a scheme for the preparation of a series of Floras or descriptions in the
English language of the indigenous plants of British colonies and possessions. Bentham began with the
Flora Hongkongensis in
1861, which was the first comprehensive work on any part of the little-known flora of
China and
Hong Kong, including
Hong Kong Croton. This was followed by the
Flora Australiensis, in seven volumes (1863-1878), the first flora of any large continental area that had ever been finished. His greatest work was the
Genera Plantarum, begun in
1862, and concluded in
1883 in collaboration with Sir
Joseph Dalton Hooker.
Bentham was awarded the
Royal Medal of the
Royal Society in 1859, elected
FRS in 1862, and appointed
CMG (Companion of St Michael & St George) in 1878. His foreign awards included the
Clarke Medal of the
Royal Society of New South Wales in
1879.
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