ABSTRACT
Hewett Cottrell Watson had worked toward a revolution in biology since 1834, and he was the first to say that Charles Robert Darwin had achieved it. Watson's influence was also conveyed during his lifetime and afterwards by his activities in botanical exchange clubs. He had originated the idea in 1830, others first implemented it in 1835, a few years later he introduced the scientific rigor which rescued its usefulness, BSL's exchange club was the Society's only activity that Watson really supported, until Botanical Society of London (BSL) folded. Watson buried his evaluation of Darwin's theory under a subheading within the introduction to his Compendium of the Cybele Britannica. As a botanist with no institutional connections except membership in the Linnean Society, with a combative personality and reclusive habits, Watson was in a poor situation to attract a protégé. More and a collaborator used Watson's system of 18 British provinces and 38 sub-provinces to describe the distributions of British butterflies.
