PREFACE. 



'T^HIS work began with an offer by Mr. W. S. Millard, 

 -*- Secretary of the Bombay National History 

 Society, to publish illustrated notes on the Flora of the 

 Nilgiris in the pages of his journal : and the Government 

 of Madras on being approached promised a grant to defray 

 the cost of coloured plates. But it was thought that the 

 work would be more useful in book form, and that a 

 large number of line-illustrations would be better than a 

 few coloured ones : and finally Government ordered the 

 printing and publishing of the work in its present form 

 at the Government press. 



A large number of the illustrations have been drawn 

 by Lady Bourne [E.T.B.], to whose encouragement 

 and untiring labour at these drawings the usefulness 

 of the book is largely due. She not only drew over a 

 hundred herself but she also placed at my disposal 

 paintings done for her by various friends, from fifteen 

 of which tracings have been made, while dissections 

 of the flowers have been added in some cases. Chief 

 among these other contributors has been Mrs. Harrison 

 [M.F.H.], who has also drawn many specially for this 

 work, the total number from her pen being nearly forty. 

 Over eighty figures have been done by a young Indian 

 artist, R. Natesan, whom I engaged to accompany me to 

 the hills during my college vacations, and who made up 

 for lack of botanical knowledge by remarkable skill 

 and accuracy of drawing. Twenty-six drawings, chiefly 

 of new species, were done by my wife [D.R.F.] in 

 England. Four of these were of the diflicult genus 



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LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



GARDEN 



