46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



A portrait will be found in the ' Journal of Botany ' for 1907, 

 opposite page 385, and to the kindly notice of our deceased Fellow, 

 contributed to that journal by Mr. & Mrs. Gepp, the writer is 

 greatly indebted for many of the above-mentioned facts. They 

 conclude by stating, " Both as a friend and as a botanist, he will 

 be sorely missed. His kindly, modest, unselfish nature made him 

 beloved by everybody with whom he came in contact. In his 

 particular branch of botany his loss is quite irreparable. Such a 

 good systematist and collector is rare nowadays. The knowledge 

 which he possessed is not to be learned from books or classes, 

 and demands both natural aptitude and years of observation and 

 study." 



He was elected Fellow, 18th January, 1883. [B. D. J.] 



John Benbow was born at Maidenhead, 6th March, 1821, and 

 died at Uxbridge, where he had long resided, lOth February, 1908, 

 within a few weeks of his 87th birthday. British botanists are 

 familiar with his work in local records, and although handicapped 

 by the loss of sight in one eye, he managed to discover plants 

 overlooked by youuger men enjoying the use of both eyes. For 

 many years he had devoted attention to the Willows, Carices, 

 Muhi, and Mosses, chiefly in the counties of Middlesex, Bucks, and 

 Herts, from time to time contributing notes and short articles to 

 the ' Journal of Botany.' He was elected Fellow of the Society, 

 20th January, 1887. " [B. D. J.] 



Sir DiETEiCH Brandis, K.C.I.E., F.E.S., a pioneer of the Forest 

 Department of British India, was born at Bonn, on the 31st 

 March, 1824 (or, as other accounts have it, the following day). 

 He was the son of Christian A. Brandis, Professor of Philosophy 

 in that University. Father and son passed several years in 

 Greece, and on his return to Northern Europe our late Fellow 

 pursued his studies in the Universities of Copenhagen, Gottingen, 

 and Bonn. At the age of 25, in 1849, he became Privat-Docent 

 on Botany at Bonn, and in 1854 he married Eachel Shepherd, 

 daughter of Dr. Marshman of Bengal, which became a determin- 

 ing factor in his life. His brother-in-law General Sir Henry 

 Havelock, shortly afterwards, drew the attention of Lord Dal- 

 housie to the merits of Brandis as a fit person to take charge of 

 the teak forests of Pegu in Burma, which had recently come 

 under British supremacy. Brandis lauded at Calcutta in 1856, 

 and had a single interview with the Viceroy, whom he never saw 

 again ; but his Lordship's remark, that if the scheme propounded 

 by Brandis were carried out., it would prove of the greatest value 

 to the country, was never forgotten by the new ofiicer. Brandis 

 came at an opportune moment, and by systematic and hard work 

 managed to save the teak forests from reckless exploitation, but 

 also so regulated their management that they are now the chief 

 sources of teak timber in the world. His first report on the Pegu 

 Teak forests for 1857-60 was issued in Loudon in 1860, and 



