910 REPORT—1899. 
impossible in a brief review like the present to mention the names of all the workers 
who, in various parts of the gradually extending Indian Empire, added to our know- 
ledge of its Botanical wealth. It must suffice to mention the names of a few of 
the chief, such as Hardwicke, Madden, Munro, Edgeworth, Lance, and Vicary, 
who collected and observed in Northern India, and who all, except the two 
last mentioned, also published Botanical papers and pamphlets of more or less 
importance; Jenkins, Masters, Mack, Simons, and Oldham, who all collected exten- 
sively in Assam; Hofmeister, who accompanied Prince Waldemar of Prussia, and 
whose collections form the basis of the fine work by Klotzsch and Garcke (Reis. Pr. 
Wald.); Norris, Prince, Lobb, and Cuming, whose labours were in Penang 
and Malacea; and last, but not least, Strachey and Winterbottom, whose large 
and valuable collections, amounting to about 2,000 species, were made during 1848 
to 1850 in the higher ranges of the Kamaon and Gharwal Himalaya, and in the 
adjacent parts of Tibet. In referring to the latter classic Herbarium, Sir Joseph 
Hooker remarks that it is ‘the most valuable for its size that has ever been distri- 
buted from India.’ General Strachey is the only one who survives of the splendid 
band of collectors whom I have mentioned. I cannot conclude this brief account of 
the Botanical labours of our first period without mentioning one more book, and 
that is the ‘ Hortus Calcuttensis’ of Voigt. Under the form of a list, this excellent 
work, published in 1845, contains a great deal of information about the plants 
growing near Calcutta, either wild or in fields and gardens, It is strong in 
vernacular names and vegetable economics. 
The second period of our history begins with the arrival in India in 1848 of 
Sir (then Dr.) Joseph Hooker. This distinguished Botanist came out in the suite 
of Lord Dalhousie, who had been appointed Governor-General of India. The 
province to the exploration of which Sir Joseph directed his chief attention was 
that of Sikkim in the Hastern Himalaya, the higher and inner ranges of which had 
never previously been visited by a Botanist, for Griffith’s explorations had been 
confined to the lower and outer spurs. The results of Sir Joseph’s labours in— 
Sikkim were enormous. ‘l'owards the end of his exploration of Sikkim he was 
joined by Dr. Thomas Thomson, and the two friends subsequently explored the 
Khasia Hills (one of the richest collecting grounds in the world), and also to some 
extent the districts of Sylhet, Cachar, and Chittagong. Dr. Thomson subsequently 
amalgamated the collections made by himself in the Western Himalaya with those 
made in Sikkim by Sir Joseph individually, and by them both conjointly in Eastern 
India ; and a distribution of the duplicates after the fashion of the Wallichian issue, 
and second only to it in importance, was subsequently made from Kew. The number 
of species thus issued amounted to from 6,000 to 7,000, and the individuals were 
much more numerous than those of the Wallichian collection. The immediate literary 
results of Sir Joseph Hooker’s visit to Sikkim were, (1) his superbly illustrated 
monograph of the new and magnificent species of Rhododendron which he had 
discovered ; (2) a similar splendid volume illustrated by plates founded on drawings 
of certain other prominent plants of the Eastern Himalaya which had been made 
for Mr. Cathcart, a member of the Civil Service of India, and (8) his classic 
‘ Himalayan Journals ’—a book which remains until this day the richest repertory 
of information concerning the botany, geography, and anthropology of the Hastern 
Himalaya. A remoter result was the appearance in 1855 of the first volume of a 
‘Flora Indica,’ projected by himself and his friend Dr. Thomson. Thefirst half of 
this volume is occupied by a masterly introductory essay on Indian Botany, of 
which it is hardly possible to overrate the importance. This remarkable essay 
contains by far the most important contribution to the Physico-Geographical 
Botany of India that has ever been made, and it abounds in sagacious observations 
on the limitation of species and on hybridisation, besides containing much informa- 
tion on the history of Indian Botanical collections and collectors. The taxonomic 
part of the book was cast in a large mould, and the descriptions were written in 
Latin. Unfortunately the condition of Dr. Thomson’s health and the pressure of 
Sir Joseph’s official duties at Kew made it impossible that the book should be 
continued on the magnificent scale on which it had been conceived. After a period 
of about twelve years Sir Joseph, however, returned to the task of preparing, with 
