IV INTRODUCTION. 



" From the Central Provinces, the Conservator, Captain Doveton, sent a coll?ction 

 of well-seasoned pieces, numbering 1101 to 1186, procured by Mr. Eichard Thompson 

 from the Chanda forests. 



" From Berar Mr. Drysdale, the Deputy Conservator, sent fine pieces of timber, 

 numbered 820 to 844, and a valuable series of fibres, numbered 977 to 989. 



" The contributions from the Bombay Presidency comprised a few pieces from Guzerat, 

 Poona, and Ahmednagar, too small for cutting up, and a number of large pieces sent 

 by Lieutenant-Colonel Peyton, the Conservator, and Mr. Barrett, the Deputy Conser- 

 vator, from North Kanara, numbered 992, 993, 1217 to 1227 : the latter, as well as 

 the Sind specimens already referred to, and numbered 1379 to 1384, unfortunately 

 arriving too late for the Exhibition. 



"The collections sent from Madras were very full and complete. Those from the 

 eastern side of the Presidency were sent by Colonel Beddome, the Conservator, and 

 numbered from 1051 to 1100. Besides this collection a few logs and specimens of 

 minor produce came from Gumsur the logs too late for cutting up. From the AVest 

 Coast were received a large number of specimens, Nos. 723 to 769, 845 to 869, pre- 

 pared by Mr. Cherry in South Kanara. From Malabar Mr. Ferguson, the officer in 

 charge, sent a most interesting series of sections of young trees, illustrating the rapid 

 growth of teak in the magnificent Conolly plantations at Nilambur. 



"The pieces received from Burma were not very numerous, though they comprised 

 the most useful kinds of trees. Many of them were of very large size. The logs sent 

 by Major Seaton, the Conservator at Moulmein, were numbered 545 to 554 and 11)11 

 to 1950 ; while those from Mr. Kibbentrop, the Conservator at Rangoon, were from 

 555 to 572 and from 801 to 819. 



"A most important collection was sent from the Andaman Islands by Major Generrl 

 Barwell, the Chief Commissioner. It consisted of 26 large logs (Nos. 501 to 526;, 

 besides numerous canes and bamboos. " 



It must not be supposed that because specimens were too late for the 

 Exhibition that they were not utilized for the other distributed collec- 

 tions and for the descriptions given herein ; on the contrary, they proved, 

 several of them, most valuable for description, and especially those from 

 Oudh, Sind, Gumsur and Chittagong 1 . 



After the Exhibition collections had been despatched, by the kindness 

 of the Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, a series of 100 

 Andaman Islands woods made iu 1866 by Lieutenant Colonel Ford, 

 M.S.C., at that time Superintendent of Port Blair, and which were accom- 

 panied by a carefully prepared bound catalogue, giving all the available 

 information regarding quality and uses, was made available. This col- 

 lection had been received in 1867, and, for better custody, had at that 

 time been deposited in the Calcutta Gardens. Naturally, after ten years' 

 storage in the moist climate of Calcutta, many of the specimens were 

 found to be considerably damaged by decay or by the ravages of white- 

 ants, but it was remarkable that so many species were found to be 

 sound and to have sulliciently resisted those destructive agencies to bo 

 capable of furnishing good .specimens for description and distribution. 

 They are numbered 13 2201 to B 2300, and an exam i nation of the lUt 



