46 PUOCKEDINGS OF THE 



scientific officer was beeominjjj more and more forced to address 

 himself to the application of botanical knowlediije to practical 

 agriculture. Dr. Thwaites had never neglected this, witness the 

 foundation of Hakgala cinchona-nurseries in 1860-Gl ; but he 

 now throw himself into the new and less congenial work with as 

 much enthusiasm as could be expected. lu his annual reports of 

 the Gardens tiiere will be found much information on vanilla, 

 cinchona, tea, cardamoms, cacao, Liberian coffee, and other culti- 

 vations, all of which he at different times urged upon the atten- 

 tion of planters. Though but little heed was paid at the time to 

 these recomnieudutions, Dr. Thwaites lived to see them all 

 adopted, and these various products become of very great inter- 

 est to the colony. lu connexion witli this change, it is natural to 

 refer to the coftee-leaf disease. It was in 1SG9 that Dr. Thwaites's 

 attention was first called to this; and it was from specimens sent 

 by him in that year to the Eev. M. J. Berkeley that Uemileia 

 vctstatrix was described. Hid views as to the character of the 

 disease will be found in his reports from 1871 to 1871; (which 

 vere reprinted in 1879, wdth additional observations), and in a 

 final letter to Government so recently as January 1880. Though 

 his scientific views underwent considerable change during these 

 years, and some expressions in his later utterances cannot be 

 scientifically justified, he consistently maintained in all his jjub- 

 lished remarks, in spite of much unpopularity and opposition, the 

 inutility of external " cures," and the paramount necessity of 

 enabling the trees to bear the disease by liberal cultivation, the 

 use of manure, &c., if any sufficient crop was to be matured. 



After the acceptance by Mr. Morris, his assistant, of a superior 

 post, Dr. Thwaites resigned his appointment in February 1880, 

 \\hen he retired on a well-earned pension. 



Having a great disinclination to leave the colony after so long 

 a residence there, he purchased the pretty bungalow of Fairieland 

 above Kaudy,whei'e he quietly passed liis time in the cultivation 

 of his garden and the reception of his friends. His death 

 occurred somewhat suddenly in the night of the 11th September, 

 in Kandy, whither he had proceeded en route for the sea-coast 

 for the restoration of liis health, which had for a few weeks been 

 indiflerent. His funeral was attended by many Kandy friends, 

 including his successor at Peradeniya, and nearly all the stafi" 

 and labourers of the Gardens which he had directed for so many 

 years. 



Thwaites was a naturalist pure and simple, by temperament, 

 by long habit and determination. He never attempted any other 

 character than the sai-ant, which was his by I'ight ; and he had a 

 perfectly genuine contempt for the " popular scientists " of the 

 day. A keen and accurate observer, of great industry, quietly 

 enthusiastic, and with reasoning capacities of a high order, he 

 possessed many of the attributes which go to make a philosopher 



