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BOTANICAL NEWS 
Bentham's illustrated ' Handbook of the British Flora ' is completed. 
M, Beccari, of Florence, -vvho is now staying in London, ia preparing him- 
self for a botanical exploration of the island of Borneo. 
Dr. Gareke has been appointed Keeper of the Berlin Herbarium, a place 
successively occupied by Chamisso, Klotzsch, and Hanstein, Dr. Ascherson 
has been appointed assistant at the Herbarium. 
The species of Chinchona which ia found in the neighbourhood of Pitayo, in 
New Granada, is one which yields a large percentage of quinine, and at the 
same time ia very hardy, Mr. Markham has, therefore, made unceasing en- 
deavours to add it to the number of valuable ppecies that are now cultivated in 
British India, In 1863 he obtained a grant for this purpose, and employed 
Mr, Cross to obtain a collection of seeds of the Pitayo Chinchona. That inde- 
fatigable traveller accordingly set out from the place of his residence, at the foot 
of Mount Chimborazo, made a most difficult and hazardous journey by way of 
Pasto and Popayan, explored the Pitayo forests, and formed a valuable collec- 
tion of seeds. He then crossed the formidable paramo of Guanacas, and went 
down the valley of the Magdalena to Bogota. Unfortiinately he did not trans- 
mit the seeds direct from Bogota to England, but returned with them to Quito 
and Guayaquil. Owing to this long detention, they lost their germinating 
powers, and none came up. Mr. Cross has written an interesting report of his 
journey, which will shortly be printed. Mr, Markham has succeeded in ob- 
taining a further grant for the purpose of procuring aeeds of this valuable 
quinine-yielding species ; and that it is his intention to employ Mr. Cross 
again on the important duty of collecting them. 
We can seldom conclude our monthly chronicle of news without having the 
painful tftsk of registering the death of one or more well-known botanists. This 
time we have to announce that of Sir Robert Schomburgk and Dr. Henry 
Schott. Sir Robert died on the 11th of March at Berlin, where he had passed 
the winter confined to his bed. It will be remembered that after his famous 
explorations in British Guiana, by which botany was largely benefited, Sir 
Robert went to the West Indies, and in September, 1846, we met him at Bar- 
badoes busily engaged in collecting materials for his history of the island. Af- 
terwards he became British Consul at St. Domingo, and Consul General in 
Siam. Last year he returned to Europe, so much shattered in health by hia 
long residence in tropical climates that he never rallied again. At the invi- 
tation of Dr. N, Barth, the African traveller, as President of the Berlin Geo- 
graphical Society, his funeral was attended by a great number of scientific and 
distinguished men. He leaves behind him a solid reputation. The same mail 
brings us the news of the death of Dr. H. Schott, Director of the Imperial 
Gardens at Schonbrunn, one of our most esteemed contributors, and one of the 
greatest systematic botanists of the day, Hia last botanical paper appeared in 
this Journal on the 1st of February. 
