Correspondence. 613 



not the most remote idea of reflecting on his conduct in the arrange- 

 ment and distribution of the Indian Herbaria. On the contrary, I 

 consider Botany, and especially Indian Botany, as owing him a large 

 debt of gratitude for what he did, on that occasion, towards making 

 the treasures of Flora known to the scientific world, and, to no incon- 

 siderable extent, securing for the men who had been the means of col- 

 lecting them, the honor of naming the plants they had discovered. 



Previous to the distribution, the claims of English Botanists to 

 original discovery, were daily being superseded by the very recent 

 labours of foreigners having greater facilities of publishing their 

 collections than fell to the lot of their English predecessors, while, 

 through the limited extent of these, the Indian Flora though rich in 

 English collections, still remained very imperfectly known. Now it 

 is nearly as well known as that of most other countries of equal 

 extent, and equally removed from Europe the centre of science. 



To Wallich we are, in a great measure, indebted for this extension 

 of our knowledge, as with him originated the idea, as well as the 

 working out, of the plan of distributing among European public 

 Herbaria, the collections of so many diligent explorers of India, 

 which had for so many years been accumulating, but were still un- 

 known to science. 



One error, and that a grave one, was no doubt committed in this 

 great work, which was, neglecting to preserve a complete set of speci- 

 mens for India, among which Roxburgh's Herbarium ought to have 

 had a distinct and distinguished place. But while I, as an Indian 

 Botanist, deeply regret this oversight, I do not think that Wallich 

 should be made to bear the whole blame, as circumstances not under 

 his control had considerable influence in bringing it about. Could 

 he have seen the end from the beginning, he certainly had it in his 

 power to have done much towards preventing the evil : but we have 

 no prophets among us now-a-days. 



Should, what I formerly carelessly wrote, have had the effect of 

 producing any unpleasant feelings in the mind of Dr. Wallich, or his 

 friends, I trust what I have now said will be sufficient to remove 

 them. 



