INTRODUCTION. XVll 



Leonard Wray, I.S.O., was appointed Superintendent of the 

 Government Hill Garden in 1881, and Curator of the State Museum, 

 Thaiping, 1883. He collected plants in the Thaiping Hills and 

 made expeditions to the Batang Padang district, to Gunong Tahan 

 with H. C. Robinson, and to other localities. His collections were 

 distributed from Calcutta. He retired in 1908. 



Henry James Murton arrived in Singapore in 1875 and re- 

 mained in charge of the Gardens till 1880. He collected a number 

 of plants, visiting Kedah, Gunong Pulai in Johor, and Gunong Bubu 

 in Perak. A few specimens remain in the Kew Herbarium, but 

 the greater number and his manuscript flora of Singapore have 

 disappeared. He died in Bangkok in 1881. 



Nathaniel Cantley succeeded Henry J. Murton in charge of 

 the Gardens in 1880 and started the Herbarium there. He em- 

 ployed native collectors in Singapore, Malacca, and Negri Sembilan, 

 and also collected in Singapore and other parts. His herbarium is 

 still at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Many of the specimens were 

 unfortunately unlocalised, but the collection was a very valuable 

 one. He died in Tasmania in 1888. The genus Cantleya is named 

 after him. 



Richmond William Hullett, born 1843, headmaster of the 

 Raffles School, was a good amateur collector at about this period, 

 1880. He collected in Singapore, Mt. Ophir, and Johor, and also 

 in Java and Borneo, and made important additions to our knowledge 

 of the flora. The genus Hullettia was named after him. He ceased 

 collecting plants about 1888 and made over his herbarium to the 

 Botanic Gardens, Singapore. He died in England in 1914. 



After the death of Cantley, the author took charge of the Botanic 

 Gardens in Singapore in 1888 and commenced collecting plants on 

 as large a scale as possible. Having charge of the Colonial forests 

 from 1888 to 1902, 1 had large opportunities of collecting in Singapore, 

 Malacca, the Bindings, and Penang during the forest work, and also 

 made expeditions to Johor, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, 

 Province Wellesley, Kedah, and as far north as Setul, on the west 

 coast, and to Pahang and Kelantan on the east coast. I retired in 

 1912, but later spent several winters in the Malay Peninsula con- 

 tinuing my researches. During my residence in Singapore I was 

 materially assisted by a number of persons interested in botany, as 

 well as officials on the staff of the Gardens and Forest Departments. 



Charles Curtis was in charge of the Penang Botanic Gardens 

 from 1884 to 1903 when he retired. He collected the flora of 

 Penang and published a list of the plants of Penang in the Journal 

 of the Straits Branch of the Asiatic Society, vol. xxv, p. 67. He also 

 made large collections in the Lankawi islands and Terutau and the 

 Trang district, and also collected on the Hermitage Hill and Sungkai 

 River in Perak. Many species of plants are named after him, as 

 well as the genus Cnrtisina. 



Fi.M.p., I 7. 



