SOCIAL LIFE 175
ignorant of logical subtleties, and repeat the following much as a parrot might. He called the operation in question the" Quantification of the Predicate." Years passed by, during which he abandoned logic and gave all his time to systematic botany, for which his logical training was helpful. He had been President of the Linna?an Society for many years, and his name had become familiar to every botanist and dabbler in botany. At this time a letter in some newspaper (I think the Athena'um) was brought to his notice, in which the writer dwelt on the importance of this " Quantification of the Predicate." He mentioned the name of its young author, adding that he had taken much pains, in vain, to learn what had become of him,-could any reader supply information ?
Mr. Bentham called one morning in i 88o, together with Sir Joseph (then Mr.) Hooker, to congratulate me on having just had a whole genus of flowers of singular beauty called after me by the French botanist, J. Decaisne (Prof. de Culture, Mus6e d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris) [60]. I was amazed, for I know next to nothing of botany. The story was this. A beautiful plant had been sent from Natal to Europe. I t was described at Kew as IHyacinthus C'andicans, but M. Decaisne would not consent to such a denomination. He pointed out particulars in the plant that hyacinths have not, and the absence of other particulars that hyacinths have, and he renamed it. Why he pitched upon my name for the purpose I do not know, but suppose that he may have consulted a list of the South African medallists of the French Geographical Society, and finding my name among them, selected it. I have
