OBITUAEY NOTICE OF DE. JOSEPH BANCROFT. 



By EUGEN HIRSCHFELD, M.D. 



l^Read hffore the Royal Society of Queensland, \Ath July, 1894.] 



It is with deep regret that we have to record the death of Dr. 

 Joseph Bancroft, which took place at his residence in Ann Street, 

 on June 16, at the age of 58 years. 



Dr. J. Bancroft, who was a memher of the Royal Society 

 from its inception and President of the Society in 1884-5, 

 was born in Stretford, near Manchester. He practised first in 

 Nottingham, England, for five years, during which time he made 

 experiments having for their object the transmission of eggs of 

 the salwonitlea: to New Zealand and Tasmania ; he actually 

 assisted in packing for transit the first batch of trout eggs that 

 reached the colony alive. Ever since his arrival in Queensland 

 in 1861 he took a lively interest m the introduction of plants of 

 economic value. Hybridisation of plants was with him a 

 favourite pastime ; he succeeded in producing new varieties of 

 the strawberry, castor oil, and the grape, some of which have 

 proved very useful and are extensively cultivated. 



He was instrumental in demonstrating the important fact 

 that wheat, rye, and rice could be successfully grown in the 

 vicinity of Brisbane, and that sugar-cane and the banana could 

 be cultivated here free from disease. His investigations into the 

 pharmacology of the native flora are numerous and well-known. 



Dr. Bancroft's name, however, will be particularly remem- 

 bered in connection with his fundamental researches on FiUaria 

 sanyumis hombm and the discovery of the properties of the leaves 

 of Duboisia myoijoroides and the subsequent introduction of 

 Duboisin into the Pharmacopoeia. 



The eminently practical character of his investigations, both 

 biological and medical, has, by the results he achieved, erected 

 to him a true " monumentum aere perennius." 



