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24 Notes - John Dalton, a colour-blind botanist, & English Lakeland botanistsity in [the] nomenclature' of colours, not thatthere was 'any peculiarity in my vision' (Dalton1798).1 was always of the opinion, though 1 mightnot often mention it, that several colourswere injudiciously named. The term pink, inreference to the flower of that name [Le.Dianthus], seemed proper enough; but whenthe term red was substituted for pink, 1thought it highly improper; it should havebeen blue, in my apprehension, as pink andblue appear to me very nearly allied; whilstpink and red have scarcely any relation.He had had some inkling that his 'vision was notlike that of other persons' when still living inKendal (ifthe date he gave is correct):. . .... 1 was never convinced of a pecuilanty IIImy vision, till 1 accidentally observed thecolour of the flower of the Geranium zonale[Pelargonium zonale: see Hunt et alii 1995]by candle-light, in the Autumn of 1792. Theflower was pink, but it appeared to me almostan exact sky-blue by day; in candle-light,however, it was astonishingly changed, nothaving then any blue in it, but being what 1called red, a colour which forms a strikingcontrast to blue.Dalton gave several other botanical examples:'Besides the pinks, roses, &c ofthe gardens, thefollowing British flora appear to me blue:namely, Statice Armeria [= Armeria maritima],Trifolium pratense, Lychnis Flos-cuculi,Lychnis dioica [= Silene dioica], and many ofthe Gerania [sic]': - thrift, red clover, raggedrobin,red campion and the cranesbills. Discussinggreen Dalton told the audience at theManchester Literary and Philosophical Societythat 'I take my standard idea from grass. Thisappears to me very little different from red. ~heface ofa laurel-leaf (Prunus Lauro-cerasus) IS agood match to a stick of red sealing-wax; andthe back of the leaf answers to the lighter red ofwafers.'John Dalton had detected in himself, and thendescribed in a most elegant and straightforwardmanner, congenital colour vision deficiency(colour-blindness, sometimes also termedDaltonism). This is one of the most commoninherited human disorders affecting approximately8 out of every 100 males and 4 out ofevery 1,000 females. There are colour-blindindividuals in every walk of life: taking thoseaverage figures, it may be assumed that there arearound 170 BSBI members afflicted by colourvision deficiency - perhaps there..are fewer thanthat, because inability to distinguish coloursmay deter individuals with the disorder fromjoining. 1 recall wryly that 1 was almost refusedentry to Australia in 1971, to undertake mypostgraduate research, because at my compulsorymedical examination the doctor discoveredthat 1 am slightly red-green colour-blind.Notes1. John Wilson (1696-1751) was also a nativeof the Kendal area, and his book, published inNewcastle upon Tyne, prefaced by a dictionaryof botanical terms, 'show[ed] considerableoriginal observation and thought' (Henrey1975). It was 'the first account of British plantswritten in English' (Boulger & McConnell2004). He was not mentioned by Halliday(1986).2. Kent & AlIen (1984) noted only one volume.3. Peter Crosthwaite is not listed by Hedge &Lamond (1970), Kent & AlIen (1984), orDesmond & Ellwood (1994).4. RevdlohnHarrimanFLS (1760-1831) wasanother native of Cumberland. An II-volumeherbarium of Harriman's is in LlV (Kent &AlIen 1984). He is not listed by Hedge &Lamond (1970). Harriman is wrongly credited(e. g. Desmond & Ellwood 1994) with thediscovery of Gentiana verna in County Durham(in 'Teesdale Forest [sic]') during 1~97; thespecies was in fact found by John Bl11~s, ~nunlettered lead miner, and he was so credIted IIISowerby & Smith (1798). A specimen ofSpring gentian from 'near Egleston', fromHarriman is in Crosthwaite's hortus siccus (seeWood 1970), and one labelled 'Teesdale Forest'is in the Smith's herbarium (LlNN: Savage no.0476.28.2). (For information on Harriman andBinks 1 am grateful to the Revd G.G. Graham,Dr J. Edmonson and Prof. M. Seaward.)AcknowledgementsMy thanks are due to the Revd G. G. Graham, Dr JohnEdmondson, Dr Leander Wolstenholme, Mrs JenniferWoods, Professor Mark Seaward and Dr Tony Spalding.ReferencesThere is a wealth of publications about J olm Dalton' swork on colour-blindness, including the symposiumvolmne edited by Dickinson, Murray & Carden(1997) cited below.ADAMSON, R.S. & CRABTREE, A.McK. 1920. Theherbarium of Jolm Dalton. Memoirs of the ManchesterLiterary & Philosophical Society 63: 1-46[not seen].BOULGER, 0.8. & MCCONNELL, A. 2004. Wilson,Jolm (1702-1751), botanist. Oxford dictionary ofnational biography [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29664, accessed 19 May 2006]
Notes - John Dalton, colour-blind botanist, & English Lakeland botanists I Botany in Literature - 42 25DALTON, J. 1794. Dalton -letter [to Elihu Robinson],in DICKINSON, C., MURRAY, I. & CARDEN, D.(editors). 1997: pp 3-6.DALTON, J. 1798. Extraordinary facts relating to thevision of colours: with observations. Memoirs of theLiterary and Philosophical Society of Manchester 5(1): 28--45. (Reprinted in DICKINSON, C., MURRA Y,I. & CARDEN, D. (editors). 1997: pp 7-14.)DAVIS, P. 2004. Robinson, Elihu (1734-1809), meteorologistand horticulturist. Oxford dictionary ofnational biography [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/artic1e/53552, accessed 16 April 2006].DESMOND, R. & ELLWOOD, C. 1994. Dictionary ofBritish and Irish botanists and horticulturists. Revisededition. London: Tay10r & Francis & TheNatural History Museum.DICKINSON, C., MURRAY, 1. & CARDEN, D. (editors).1997. John Dalton's colour vision legacy: selectedproceedings of an international coriference. London:Tay10r & Francis.GREENAWAY, F. 2004. Daiton, John (1766--1844),chemist and natural philosopher. Oxford dictionaryof national biography [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/artic1eI7063, accessed 16 April 2006].GROSS, J. 2004. Gough, John (1757-1825), naturaland experimental philosopher. Oxford dictionary ofnational biography [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/artic1el11139, accessed 16 April 2006].HALLIDAY, G. 1986. The discovery of the Lakelandflora. Scottish naturalist 98 th year: 147-156.HEDGE, I.C. & LAMOND, J.M. (editors). 1970. Indexof collectors in the Edinburgh herbarium. Edinburgh:HMSO.HENREY, B. 1975. British botanical and horticulturalliterature before 1800 ... II The eighteenth centuryhistory. London: Oxford University Press.HUNT, D.M., DULAI, K.S., BOWMAKER, J.K. & MOLLON, J.D. 1995. The chemistry of John Daiton'scolor blindness. Science 267: 984-988.KENT, D.H. & ALLEN, D.E. 1984. British and Irishherbaria. London: BSBI.SIMMS, C. 1969. Note on the herbaria of John andJames Dalton. Journal of the Society for the Bibliographyof Natural History 5 (2): 117-120.SOWERBY, J. & SMITH, J.E. 1798. Gentiana verna.English botany 7: tab. 493.WOOD, D. 1970. A herbarium by John Da1ton of theRoyal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Journal of theSociety for the Bibliography of Natural History 5(4): 270-271.Botany in Literature - 42Wyndham's The Day o/the Triffids - Carnivorous Plants - Polysyllabic LatinMARGOT E. SOUCHIER, 26A Dryden Avenue, LONDON, W71ESJohn Wyndham (Harris, John Wyndham ParkesLucas Benyon; 1903-1969) was born inKnowles in the West Midlands of CentralEngland. The son of a barrister, he tried avariety of jobs (farming, law, commercial art,advertising, and, during W orId War n, the civilservice and the army), before resuming writing,having previously written detective stories. Hisfirst quasi-science fiction novel, The Day o/theTriffids (1951) deals with concerns over theCold War, fear of biological experimentation(apt today with reference to the genetic modificationof plants), and man-made apocalypse,and also, as with his other works (The KrakenAwakes (1953), The Chrysalids (1955), TheSeeds of Time (1956), The Midwich Cuckoos(1957), The Outward Urge (with 'LucasParkes') (1959), The Trouble with Lichen(1960), Consider Her Ways and Others (1961),and Chocky (1968», the preservation of Englishdecency in hostile conditions. His writingprovides a bridge between traditional Britishscience fiction and the more varied sciencefiction which has since replaced it. Thus,although one gets a reasonably good idea ofwhat 'them horrid triffid things' look like,Wyndham's concerns in The Day o/the Triffidsare somewhat less than botanical. If anything,they are, as the passage (from page 31) beyondindicates, slightly anti-botanical (for example,he fights shy of giving his 'modified sunflower'a botanical name), but, even so, the descriptionof a triffid, as a composite carnivorous plant,owes its genesis to various sources, onecertainly being H.G. Wells (see next BSBINews), the others possibly being ProfessorEmeritus Francis Ernest Lloyd's 1942 (2 nd edn1976) classic study The Carnivorous Plants(viz. Byblis, Roridula (Byblidaceae), Cephalotus(Cephalotaceae), Drosera, Drosophyllum,Dionaea (Droseraceae), Genlisea, Pinguicula,Utricularia (Lentibulariaceae), Darlingtonia,Heliamphora, Sarracenia (Sarraceniaceae),Nepenthes (Nepenthaceaea), as referred to in thenotes below) and Chase S. Osbom's Madagascar,Land 0/ the Man-eating Tree [1924] (ap.Lloyd, 1976).Consider the following would-be descriptiobotanica compiled from Wyndham's scatteredportrayals, complete with posited Latin name:Triffidus calamitosus Wynd. 1951, Day Trif.:tit. et passim, (Triffidaceae). Subfrutex[Subshrub] Carnivorous perennial, 4 ft [1.219m] in height to average of just over 7 ft [2.134m]; seldom over 8 ft [2.438 m] in Europe, but upto 10 ft [3.048 m] in tropics. Woody bole! at
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