5*5 I'llOCEEUlNGS OF THE 



sister, will always be reiiiombered with pleasure by those who 

 had the good t'ortuue to experience it. He was a great naturalist, 

 worthy of the esteem and affection in wliich he was held. 



[A. S. AV.j 



E.\cluding perhaps the late Sir Dietrich Brandis and Mr. Gamble, 

 no other Indian forester in recent years has done so much to 

 add to our knowledge of systematic botany in India as AVilmam 

 Alexandeu 'J'albot, whose sad death occurred in Switzerland on 

 the 23rd July, 1917. 



Mr. Talbot came to Switzerland in 1911 shortly after retire- 

 ment from the Indian Forest Service, bringing the greater part 

 of his valuable herbarium with him, and accompanied by his sister 

 who had been his devoted companion for so many years in India. 

 Soon after arrival he purchased the historic mansion known as the 

 Chateau de Rougemoiit, situated in the Canton Vaud, hoping to 

 spend the remainder of his days midst the ideal surroundings of 

 that beautiful spot in useful botanical work; but this he was not 

 permitted to do for very long. He only survived in Switzerland 

 for a comparatively short time, namely, six years. 



About six months or so before his death, he complained of a 

 feeling of weariness and disinclination for further botanical study ; 

 a rest was suggested, and it was thought that after this he w ould 

 be able to resume his pa»sionately-loved work, but such, unfortu- 

 nately, was not the case. His health rapidly declined, and he 

 passed peacefully away at the c()ra])aratively early age of i)2 years, 

 34 of which were spent in the Bombay Forest Department. 



Mr. Talbot, who was an Irislmian, was educated at Foyle 

 College, County Londonderry — a college which had the honour 

 of turning out two brothers. Lord and Sir Henry Lawrence of 

 Indian Mutiny fame. John Nicholson, the hero of Delhi, it is 

 interesting to note, hailed from an institution close by in the same 

 county. 



After passing an examination in London for the Indian Service, 

 he was sent to the Ft)rest School at 2sancy in the Vosges for a 

 three years' course of study in forestry. Having completed this 

 course, he went out to Bombay and arrived there in December 

 1876, being posted as an Assistant Conservator of Forests, to the 

 Thana District, a district situated at the foot of the western pro- 

 jection of the Ghats. Here, however, he was not permitted to 

 remain very long; after a few months he was transferred to 

 Khandesh, on the Deccan table-land. It was while serving in 

 Khandesh that an episoile occurred which very nearly terminated 

 Mr. Talbot's career. When out shooting on one occasion in the 

 Satpura Hills, a magnificent wounded bison charged him in the 

 bamboo jungles there. Many would have been unable to know 

 wiiat to do in such an emergancy, but Mr. Talbot with great 

 presence of mind lay flat on the ground, permitting the infuriated 

 bison to pass over his prostrate form. 



