-XXXll 



XIXTH A\\'ARDOF TUK SOUTH AFRICA MFJ)AL 

 AX I) (iKAXT. 



Fund raised by Members of llie Britisli Assoeiaticni in 

 iuinniejnoration of their i-isit to South .Africa in 1905. ) 



Thomas KoiiHRxsox Sim, PM\.H.S.. was nominated for the 

 award nj^on the following grounds : — 



" 1. Mr. Sim is the only authorit}' in Smith Africa on the 

 South African Ferns. The first edition of his monograph. 

 published in 1892, having been out of ]:)rint for some years, a 

 second and enlarged edition, published ])y the Cambridge Uni- 

 versity Press, has been issued this year. Tfie appearance of 

 this imjiortant work would be suitably marked by the award for 

 which Mr. Sim is now nominatecl. 



" 2. Xo one has contributed so much as Mr. Sim to our 

 knowledge of the botany of the forests of South and South- 

 Fast Africa. His comprehensive work, entitled " The Forest 

 Flora and Forest Resources of Portuguese East Africa." was 

 prepared and pviblished ( 1909) at the expense of the Portu- 

 guese Government. His earlier work on the " Forests and Forest 

 Flora of the Colony of the Cape of (iood Hope " ( 1907) is, and 

 for some years to come will be, the standard work on the subject. 



" 3. (3wing to the retrenchment of the Xatal Forest Depart- 

 ment (of which Mr. Sim was the Chief) in 1907, Mr. Sim's 

 opportunities for research were seriously curtailed. l:5ut in 

 spite of the necessity which then arose of establishing a horticul- 

 tural business as a means of livelihood, Mr. Sim never lost touch 

 with the i)roblems in which he had previously interested himself. 



"4. During the last year Mr. Sim has commenced a mono- 

 gra])h of the South African Mosses and Lichens — groups which 

 ha\-e hitherto received a minimum of attention from South 

 African Ijotanists. Mr. .Sim has for many years been interested 

 in these groups, and the work he has now in hand will be a 

 notable and much-needed addition to the botanical literatiu-e of 

 South Africa. 



" To summarise, Mr. .'^im came to South .Africa in 1SS9. 

 I le was ai)pointed Superintendent of Plantations, Eastern Con- 

 servancy, Cajie Colony, January, 1895; District Forest Officer, 

 Kingwilliamstown, .Se])tember, 1898; Conservator of Forests, 

 Xatal, .September, 1902, till 1907; MemlDcr of the Technical Edu- 

 cation Cfjmmission, Xatal, 1905; Natal's Representative at the 

 .South African I'roducts b^xhibition, !,ondon, 1907; Forestal 

 Adviser to the I'(jrtuguese (iovernment. Mozambi(|ue Province, 

 i(;o8. lie was f(jrmerly, and for man)' years, a Fellow of the 

 l.innean ."society." 



The following is a list o\ the most ini])ortant of Air. Sim's 

 publications : — 



