Vlll PREFACE. 



F.L.S., I.M.S., (Retd.) very kindly lent the paintings already 

 referred to above to the exhibition. 



But still I was unable to secure illustrations of about 300 



Indian Medicinal Plants for the Exhibition. L wrote to the 



Superintendent, Royal Botanical Garden, Shibpur, Calcutta, 



if he would kindly lend the drawings of those plants from the 



Herbarium in his charge. In his letter dated 24th May, 1910, 



he wrote : — 



•' I regret that I cannot see my way to let you have a loan of the original 

 drawings of any plants, as it is a strict rule in all botanical institutions that 

 original drawings are not allowed to go out of the building for any purpose, 

 as in the event of loss or damage they could not possibly be replaced. I 

 should however be quite prepared to have exact copies made of such drawings 

 as may be of interest to you at the expense of the Exhibition. For large 

 full size drawings coloured, the rate for copying including paper would be 

 Rs. 5-8-0 each." 



About this time, I made tbe acquaintance of Professor Bhim 

 Chandra Chatter ji, B.A., B Sc, then of the Bengal Technical 

 Institute, Calcutta. I was told that he had collected materials 

 and illustrations of plants of Hindu Materia Medica, as he was 

 preparing a work on that subject. So I wrote to him to 

 exhibit his collection at the Exhibition. He came to Allahabad 

 to see me. On showing him the letter of the Superintendent, 

 Shibpur Garden, he said he would take photos of those plants 

 and their drawings which would cost less than one-fifth of the 

 estimate given in the letter referred to above. 



1 went to Calcutta and taking Professor Bhim Chandra 

 Chatter ji introduced him to the Superintendent, who very kindly 

 afforded him every facility to take photos of plants and of their 

 drawings. But, unfortunately, Professor Bhim Chandra Chatterji 

 was not successful with his photographs. He then arranged 

 with the Shibpur artists to copy the drawings of plants pre- 

 served in the Herbarium there at very favourable terms. 



The late lamented Mr. G. R. Murray, I.C.S., who was Secret- 

 ary of the United Provinces Exhibition, took great interest in the 

 Indigenous Drugs Court and did all that lay in his power to 

 make it a success. He got his committee to sanction the sum 

 necessary to procure copies of drawings of the plants. After 



