xlvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



valuable facts and observations, which have had an important 

 bearing on the progress of this great industry. 



In 1838 the 'Illustrations of Indian Botany' was commenced, 

 and simultaneously its companion, the ' Icones Plantarum Indise 

 Orientalis.' The ' Illustrations ' comprise a series of memoirs on the 

 Natural Orders, full of important information with regard to species, 

 and valuable notes on their affinities : the work commenced as soon 

 as the names of 100 subscribers were recorded ; it terminated with 

 the end of the second volume and 182nd plate, in 1850. In the 

 ' Icones ' the letterpress usually contains only the description of the 

 species, though in the later volumes occasional general details are 

 given, especially in those Natural Orders which are not included in 

 the ' Illustrations.' The plates of the ' Icones ' are uncoloured, and 

 amount to 2101, a surprising number to have been completed in 

 fifteen years. The Government of Madras subscribed for fifty copies 

 of both works, otherwise they could not have been completed. 



Dr. Wight remained at Coimbatore till March 1853, when he 

 finally retired from the public service. On the occasion of his 

 leaving India there was a great gathering of his friends and admirers 

 in Madras, and a valedictory address was presented to him by the 

 committee of the Agri-Horticultural Society. 



After his return to England, increasing deafness and failing health 

 appear to have prevented him from resuming descriptive botany. In 

 1853 he purchased the estate of Grazeley Lodge, near Reading, where 

 he entered on agricultural pursuits with great zeal and success. His 

 farm of 66 acres was much improved by his skilful treatment, and in 

 1860 he delivered a spirited address to the Farmers' Club at Reading. 

 In 1861 and 1862 Dr. Wight wrote a series of articles in the 

 • Gardeners' Chronicle,' on the subject of cotton -farming, explanatory 

 of the American and East-Indian methods, with suggestions for their 

 improvement. 



To conduct the great works by which Wight's name will ever be 

 remembered required, in a tropical climate, qualities of no ordinary 

 stamp. In addition to an extensive knowledge of botany, Wight 

 possessed extraordinary industry, with great physical power of en- 

 durance ; difficulties did not easily thwart him, and he laboured 

 steadily from early morning till late at night with few intermissions. 

 At one time he had about twenty natives employed in a large room 

 of his house, colouring the plates for his ' Illustrations ' and mixing 

 their own colours. Of these, two were specially esteemed by their 

 kind master — Rungia and Govindoo. The former prepared the 



