In 1811 he had been made a fellow of the Royal Society; and in 1839 received its highest honour in the Copley medal, awarded to him "for his discoveries during a series of years on the subject of vegetable impregnation." In the meantime, honours and titles flowed in upon him from all quarters. In 1832 the University of Oxford conferred on him, in conjunction with Dalton, Faraday, and Brewster, the honorary degree of D.C.L.; and, in the succeeding year, he was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of France, his name being selected from a list, including those of nine other savans of world-wide reputation, nearly every one of whom has since been elected to the same distinguished honour. During the administration of Sir Robert Peel, he received, in recognition of his great eminence in botanical science, a pension on the Civil List of 200l. per annum, and shortly afterwards the King of Prussia decorated him with the cross of the highest Prussian Civil Order—'Pour le Merite.'
Of Mr. Brown's later publications the most important are, his 'Botanical Appendix to Captain Burt's Expedition into Central Australia,' published in 1849; and his Memoir 'On Triplosporite, an undescribed Fossil Fruit,' published in the Linnean Transactions for 1851. The pervading and distinguishing character of all these writings, is to be found in the combination of the minutest accuracy of detail with the most comprehensive generalization; and no theory is propounded which does not rest for its foundation on the most circumspect investigation of all attainable facts. Among the most important anatomical and physiological subjects of which they treat, particular mention is due to the discovery of the nucleus of the vegetable cell, the development of the stamina, together with the mode of fecundation in Asclepiadeæ and Orchideæ; the development of the pollen and of the ovulum in Phœnogamous plants, and the bearing of these facts upon the general subject of impregnation; also the origin and development of the spores of mosses; and the discovery of the peculiar motions which take place in the "active molecules" of matter when seen suspended in a fluid under the microscope. Of structural investigations, the most important are those which establish the relation of the flower to the axis from which it is derived, and of the parts of a flower to each other, as regards both position and number; the analogy between stamina and pistilla; the neuration of the corolla of compositœ, their œstivation and inflorescence; and the structure of the stems of cycadeœ, both recent and fossil.
Mr. Brown was also strongly attached to the study of fossil botany, and, with a view to its prosecution, he formed an extensive and valuable collection of fossil woods, which he has bequeathed, under certain conditions, to the British Museum.
After the death of Sir Joseph Banks, who bequeathed to him his house in Soho Square, Mr. Brown continued to occupy that portion of it which opened upon Dean Street; and it was in the library of that illustrious man, the scene of his labours for sixty years, surrounded by his books and by his collections, that Robert Brown breathed his last, on the 10th of June, 1859, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.—Memoir by John J. Bennett, F.R.S., read at the Anniversary Meeting of the Linnean Society, May, 1859.
SIR M. ISAMBARD BRUNEL, V.P.R.S., &c.
Born April 25, 1769. Died December 12, 1849.
This celebrated engineer was born at Haqueville, in Normandy, where his family had for several centuries held an honourable position, numbering among its members the eminent French painter Nicholas Poussin. Brunel was educated at the seminary at Rouen, with the intention of his entering holy orders, but he displayed so decided a taste for mathematics and mechanics,[6] that by the advice of the superior of the establishment he was removed to follow a more congenial career.
His father then destined him for the naval service, which he entered on the appointment of the Mareschal de Castries, the Minister of Marine, and made several voyages to the West Indies. While in this position, although only fifteen years old, his mechanical talents showed themselves on many occasions, and he surprised his captain by the production of a sextant of his own manufacture, with which he took his observations.
In 1792 Brunel returned to France, where he found the revolution at its height, and, like all who entertained Royalist principles, was compelled to seek safety by flight, which with difficulty he effected,[7] taking refuge in the United States of America. Here, driven by necessity to the exercise of his talents, he followed the bent of his inclination, and became a civil engineer and architect. His first engagement in this capacity was on the survey of a tract of land near Lake Erie; he then became engaged in cutting canals, and was employed to erect an arsenal and cannon foundry at New York, where he erected several new and ingenious machines. He was also engaged to design and superintend the building of the Bowery Theatre, New York, since destroyed by fire, the roof of which was peculiar and original in its construction. Brunel now rose high in the estimation of the citizens of New York; they appointed him their chief engineer, and in that capacity he organized an establishment for casting and boring ordnance, which at that time was considered unsurpassed for its novelty of design and general practicability. Previously to this the idea of substituting machinery for manual labour in making ships' blocks had long occupied Brunel's mind, and in 1799, having matured his plans, he determined upon coming to England, finding that the United States were unable to afford full occupation for his inventive genius.