51 
this accidental circumstance in no way detracts from the merits 
of the enterprise which Markham had so much at heart. 
More than a decade later Markham was equally interested in 
the efforts then being made by Kew to introduce Para Rubber 
from Brazil to the East Indies. He was an intermediary in the 
communication of seeds obtained by Mr. J. Collins from a 
Mr. Farris, of Cameta, in 1873 (K.B. 1914, p. 163), and he was 
instrumental in arranging for the subsequent deputation to 
Brazil of his former coadjutor Cross with the object of obtaining 
a supply of living plants. In this case also it so happened that 
the supply of seeds which enabled Kew to lay the foundation of 
e Rubber industry in our eastern possessions came from an 
independent source, but this again was an accident which leaves 
the merits of Markham and of Cross unaffected. 
While at the India Office Markham was a not infrequent visitor 
to Kew. After his retirement his visits were few, though on the 
occasion of his last one, paid in 1910, his interest in Cinchona 
generally and its cultivation in India was just what it had been 
when he demitted work at the India Office in 1877. 
Canon H. N. Eviacompe.—By the death of Canon Ellacombe 
at Bitton Vicarage, in his ninety-fourth year, on February 7th, 
1916, the science of horticulture has lost one of its most ardent 
and successful devotees and the world is the poorer in the loss of 
a very lovable personality whose mind was a rich storehouse of 
ripe experience and sound learning. 
In the favoured garden at Bitton a wonderful collection of 
plants had been gathered together both from botanic gardens an 
from private friends, and out of the garden plants were given 
away with a truly magnificent generosity. Not least among the 
charms of Bitton Vicarage was the library stored with rare 
botanical and horticultural books whose contents were as accu- 
rately and exactly known to their owner as were those of the 
borders in the garden. In addition to his horticultural interests 
the Canon was a classical scholar of no mean parts and possessed 
a wide knowledge of English literature. His ook on the Plants 
of Shakespeare is a typical example of the mingling of bis tastes 
and interests and is a scholarly work of very real value. Some- 
what similar accounts of the plants of Gower, Chaucer, Milton, 
and Spenser were published recently by him in the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle. The Canon was a prolific writer and possessed in par- 
ticular a knowledge of old garden roses which formed the subject 
of some of his most interesting contributions. Under the hos- 
pitable roof of Bitton Vicarage keen lovers of plants from far and 
wide were always welcome and its unique and most truly botanic 
garden is enshrined in many hearts as “‘a pleasant spot.”? This 
is not the place to speak of the personal charm of Canon Ellacombe, 
ut we mourn the loss of ene who, though he almost attained the 
age of 94, was ever young and active in mind and retained until 
near the end the keen interest, retentive memory and fine intellect 
which filled his own life with happiness, and were ever a source of 
stimulus and enjoyment to his intimate friends. 
