1878.] Biograpliiccd Notice of the late S. Kurz. 03 



tendent of Port Blair had given to assist him in his work, and was left tied 

 hand and foot in the jungles on the ground. These and subsequent 

 circumstances, which prevented the more extensive excursions which he 

 had projected through the islands, obliged Kurz to return to Calcutta 

 sooner than he had intended. 



In 1867, the Government of India decided to employ him on the 

 preparation of a hand-book, intended chiefly for the use of forest officers, 

 of the trees, shrubs and climbers growing in the forests of British Burma. 

 To this new task, Kurz devoted himself with his usual ardour and enthu- 

 siasm, and his researches regarding the Flora of Burma may justly be 

 regarded as the most important work of his life. From December 1867 

 to June 1868, Kurz explored the forests in the province of Pegu and part 

 of those in Martaban. But when after his return to Calcutta he examined 

 and arranged the rich materials collected by him, he found that many 

 doubtful points remained, and he was accordingly deputed on a second tour 

 to the same districts, which lasted from December 1870 until May 1871. 



Besides the materials collected by himself, Kurz had the advantage of 

 consulting large collections made by others in Burma, and he was thus 

 enabled to describe numerous new genera and species. A number of 

 Burmese plants collected by him are described by other Botanists and de- 

 servedly bear his name. Between 1872 and 1877 he contributed two series 

 of valuable papers to the Journal of the Asiatic Society. One series he 

 called " New Burmese plants," and the other, " Contributions towards the 

 knowledge of the Burmese Flora." A general account of his researches 

 was embodied in a quarto volume published by Government in 1875, under 

 the title " Preliminary Eeport on the Forest and other vegetation of 

 Pegu." This work contains an admirable account of the vegetation in all 

 parts of that province, as well as a most useful list of vernacular (Burmese) 

 names of plants with their systematic names. 



The chief results of his labours in regard to the Burma Flora, however, 

 were embodied in his Forest Flora of British Burma, a work, regarding 

 which it is not too much to say, that it has placed the name of Kurz in the 

 first rank of Indian Botanists. This work was published towards the close 

 of last year in two volumes, by order of the Government of India. It 

 contains full and clear descriptions of 2,000 species, and will for a long 

 time to come remain a standard work of reference for all interested in 

 the vegetation of British Burma and the adjacent countries. 



In 1875, Kurz took three months' leave and devoted it to a botanical 

 exploration of the Nicobars, but exposm-e and fatigue in the unhealthy 

 climate of those islands brought on a severe attack of fever which much 

 weakened his constitution. In 1876, he contributed to the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society a paper on the Vegetation of the Nicobars, based chiefly 



