LIVES OF TRAVELLERS 



In reference to the introduction of several of the most 

 distinct Japanese conifers the following letter appeared in 

 the Times from Mr. Veitch junior : 



"To THE EDITOK OF THE Times. 



" SIR, A paragraph under the head of ' Expeditious 

 Journey to Japan ' appears in your paper of to-day, 

 which, by inference, gives the credit of first finding and 

 forwarding to England seeds of the Sciadopitys verti- 

 cillata, or umbrella pine, to Mr. Robert Fortune. 



" I have not the slightest desire to detract from Mr. 

 Fortune in any way, and I hope his researches in China 

 and Japan will prove valuable to the botanical public, 

 but as Mr. John Gould Veitch arrived in Japan on the 

 20th of July last (which was before Mr. Fortune had left 

 England), and obtained and forwarded seeds of that 

 magnificent tree, and of the scarcely less beautiful one, 

 Thuiopsis dolobrata, on the 22nd of September, nearly 

 a month before Mr. Fortune reached Japan, I feel bound, 

 in simple justice to Mr. John Gould Veitch, to state the 

 fact, that he may have the full credit due to him of first 

 introducing into England so fine a tree : and I shall 

 therefore be obliged by your inserting this letter in your 

 paper of to-morrow. 



" Mr. John Gould Veitch has also discovered and sent 

 home seeds of numerous other fine trees and shrubs, one 

 of which, a beautiful new fir, he has named Abies Alcock- 

 iana, in compliment to Mr. Rutherford Alcock, Her 

 Majesty's Minister at Jeddo, to whose kind assistance he 

 has been much indebted ; and another entirely new pine 

 has been named by Professor Lindley Abies Veitchii, in 

 compliment to the discoverer. 



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