LrOTEAN SOCIETY OF lOKDON. XCl 



his great Indian lierbarium, and in the study of geology and pa- 

 laeontology. In the latter subject the Museum of the Greological 

 Society of London, at that time under the charge of Mr. Lonsdale, 

 afforded him ample materials, amongst which, as bearing more 

 especially upon his future inquiries, was the collection of Indian 

 fossH Mammalia from the banks of the Irawaddi, formed by Mr. 

 John Crawford during his mission to Ava, and the description of 

 which by Mr. Clifb had excited much interest in the scientific 

 world, as the first instance in which ground had been broken in 

 the palaeontology of tropical regions. The influence of his study 

 of these remains was manifested immediately on his arrival in Cal- 

 cutta in September 1830, when he undertook the examination of 

 a collection of fossil bones from Ava in the possession of the Asiatic 

 Society of Bengal, and upon which he communicated a short paper 

 in the third volume of the ' Gleanings of Science.' This notice, 

 though slight and modest in its scope, nevertheless at once placed 

 Dr. Falconer in a recognized position on the then scanty roll of 

 cultivators of science in India. Early in 1831 Dr. Falconer, being 

 ordered to the station of Meerut, performed his first and last mi- 

 litary duty during twenty-six years of service. This consisted of 

 his taking charge of a detachment of invalids proceeding to the 

 Sanatorium of Landour in the Himalayas. Fortunately for science 

 and perhaps for himself, his route passed through Suharanpoor, 

 where the late Dr. Eoyle was then Superintendent of the Botanic 

 G-arden. Kindred tastes and common pursuits soon knit Falconer 

 and Eoyle together ; and at the instance of his friend, Falconer was 

 appointed to officiate for him during a leave of absence, and in 

 the following year Dr. Falconer succeeded him altogether in the 

 charge of the Garden. Thus at the early age of twenty- three was 

 he advanced to a responsible and independent public post, off'ering 

 to the naturalist the most enviable opportunities for research; 

 and thus in his case was afforded a striking instance of the advan- 

 tages the Indian service, at that time and still, occasionally holds 

 out to those among its junior medical officers who may display a 

 special aptitude for the discharge of scientific functions indepen- 

 dent of their profession. Suharanpoor is situated between the 

 Jumna and the Ganges, distant about twenty-five mUes from the 

 Sewalik Hills, and close upon the confines of the Tarai or belt of 

 forest lying between the mountains and the plain. From the 

 variety of soil, climate, and productions afforded in such a situa- 

 tion, Suharanpoor is thus most favourably placed as a central sta- 

 tion for natural-history investigations ; but being a remote (more 



