156 Proceedings of the late Dr Christie in India, 



may retrench them if they chuse. I shall therefore be in a state 

 of suspense for at least a year. I intend to write immediately 

 to some of my friends in London to plead my cause. 

 i In the approaching cold season I intend to prosecute my 

 geological researches as far south as Cape Comorin. 



[We deeply regret to add, that our excellent and highly ac- 

 complished friend and pupil is now no more, having died on the 

 3d November last, of Jungle fever, caught on crossing to the 

 Neilgherries, before he had well begun his natural history sur- 

 vey. Dr Christie's enthusiasm in the cause of science was of the 

 purest and most disinterested nature ; and his acquirements in 

 Natural History were never surpassed by any British naturalist 

 who visited India. He was master of the practical and theore- 

 tical details and views of Meteorology, Hydrology, Geology, 

 Mineralogy, and Zoology ; and, in Botany, had all that practical 

 skill required for collecting the species, and tracing them with a 

 view of their physical and geographical distribution and econo- 

 mical uses in the vast countries which we trusted would have 

 been explored by him. 



Dr Hardie *, an intelligent naturalist, now again in Europe 

 from India, with the view of recovering his health, and adding 

 to his stores of knowledge the new views and facts to be ac- 

 quired by stud)'ing under the Professors in Edinburgh, Paris, 

 and Berhn, and visiting the most important geological districts 

 in Britain and the continent of Europe, will, we trust, be select- 

 ed by the India Company (which has for so long a series of 

 years munificently fostered and encouraged science), to take up 

 and continue the investigations of Dr Christie. 



Mere collectors of plants or rocks will no longer satisfy either 

 the India Company or the demands of science : plants may be 

 collected by a well instructed gardener, and rock specimens by a 

 skilful lapidary. The naturalists sent to India ought to be of 

 a different stamp : they should be armed at all points with the 

 powers of general science — with a perfect knowledge of the use 

 of those instruments employed in investigating the natural his- 

 tory of the atmosphere, the waters of the globe, and the gene- 



• Dr Hardie is already well known by his geological memoirs published 

 in this country and also in India. 



