82 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



patient and careful observer, and a valued correspondent of Prof. 

 West wood, the famous entomologist. 



A search through the Journals of the Ceylon Asiatic Society of the 

 period reveals several other local contributors. Thus, the Rev. B. 

 Boake is responsible for Papers " On the Air-breathing Fish of 

 Ceylon" and "On the Crocodiles of Ceylon" (1865-6). W. C. 

 Ondaatje writes " On the Poisonous Properties of Callotropis " 

 (1865), and contributes Papers on Corals and Zoophytes. E. W. 

 Holdsworth publishes a report on the Pearl Oyster Banks in 1867, 

 and contributed a Paper on Ceylon Birds to the Zoological Society 

 in 1872. 



The remaining period — from 1880 to the present day — has 

 produced numerous students and lovers of Natural History, many 

 of whom, happily, still remain with us ; but others have retired or 

 joined the great majority. Of the latter, Dr. Henry Trimen, F.R.S., 

 was as distinguished for his loveable nature as for his scientific 

 knowledge. While Director of the Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya 

 from 1880 to 1896, he brought out the first four volumes of his 

 " Handbook of the Flora of Ceylon ," and left notes for the concluding 

 volume which were put into form — after his death — hj the late Sir 

 Joseph Hooker. His able successor, Dr. J. C. Willis, did good 

 service to Ceylon botany by his critical studies on the Podostomacece , 

 of which he published a memoir in the ' ' Annals of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens , Peradeniya . ' ' 



When referring to the establishment of the Colombo Museum, 

 mention should have been made of its first Director, Amyrald Haly, 

 who occupied that position for approximately a quarter of a century 

 — from 1877 to 1901, during which he amassed the enormous 

 collections which still form the bulk of the contents of the museum. 

 When one remembers that he had to start Avith an empty building 

 and — single handed — to furnish it appropriately in every depart- 

 ment, the magnitude of his task appears prodigious. He invented 

 a method of preserving fish for exhibition, by which their natural 

 colours are retained. The success of this method can be seen in the 

 fish gallery of our Museum at the present day. 



It may be taken as an axiom that one of the principal duties of 

 the Director of a Natural History Museum is to advance and 

 popularize the study of Natural History. Haly's successor in this 

 office— Dr. Arthur Willey, F.R.S. — did much to achieve this object 

 by the foundation of the Jouma/ Spolia Zeylanica which aims 

 at the collection and record of all observations of local interest 

 appropriate to our subject. As the editor remarks, in the preface 

 to the first volume : " In a progressive Colony like Ceylon, where 

 the aspect of the country is undergoing rapid change, records of 

 apparently trivial observations often acquire a cumulative im- 

 portance in the course of years, and it should be considered an 



