249 



that can definitely be referred to species descriherl or fij^ured by 

 Rumphius, and second "Reliquiae Robinsonianae" to include 

 those species that Rumphius did not describe. The final report 

 has been written up in (wo parts, one " Reliciuiae Robinsonianae" 

 a critical enumeration of the species not describ(;d by Rumphius,. 

 and the second which has been tentatively callcfr"An interpre- 

 tation of Rumphius's Herbarium Amboincnsc." In this fjart 

 the attempt has been made to account for every species figured, 

 or described by Rumphius, the whole being arranged in accord- 

 ance with the Engler & Prantl sequence. Under each has been 

 given a critical historical resume of the previous attempts to 

 reduce the Rumphian species, citing the necessary synonyms to 

 explain each case. Wherever the Rumphian species is repre- 

 sented in the Robinson collection, the specimen is cited; the 

 duplicates will be distributed under special labels giving both the 

 accepted binomial name in modern system of classification, and 

 the Rumphian name and reference to the volume page, and plate 

 of the Herbarium Amboinense. To make the work more gener- 

 ally useful there has also been added a list of the species under the 

 Rumphian names, serially arranged as originally published, with 

 their modern equivalents so far as these have been determined. 

 It will perhaps be worthy of note that in the course of the work 

 it has been found that nearly 500 species have been based by 

 various authors wholly on the Rumphian figures or descriptions; 

 these must be interpreted primarily from Rumphius, as no types 

 are extant. The whole work, with the exception of a very few 

 groups, and with the exception of the general introduction, is now 

 ready for the printer. Since Dr. Robinson's death the work has 

 been carried on by Dr. E. D. Merrill who also writes. 



"How unfortunate it is that Dr. Robinson could not have 

 lived to complete his field work, for the plan was for him to 

 remain in Amboina until the latter part of May or early part of 

 June, 1914; he was killed early in December, 1913, after four and 

 a half months' field work, in place of a year's field work. Had 

 he remained until June, 1914; or I should say had he lived until 

 then, I am sure that he would have secured the necessary material 

 to clear up nearly all of the "puzzles" as to the identity of the 



