169 
dealt with on official fooiscap. Sir Robert Meade never failed to take a 
human view of possibilities, and many things were ‘accomplished 
accordingly which any other method would have made impracticable. 
A strong personal taste for botany and gardening made him keenly 
alive to the difficulties and limitations of any aid which could be given 
effectively to cultural carmen p Msi Colonies. Judicious vigour led 
him to clear away unnecessary difficulties in assisting any reasonable 
project. How much the "Colonies eet in this respect, to his unfailing 
attention to their welfare can never, perhaps, be wholly appreciated. 
Death of Sir John Thurston, K.C.M.G.—After 20 AS wor service in 
various e in the Pacific Sir John Thurston became Governor 
of Fiji and High Commissioner in the Western Pacific in 1887. He 
died in Febrasry last while still in office. His career was one of those 
which counts for little in the public eye; yet it was spent in capable 
knowledge and so self-sacrificing his devotion to its affairs in the 
Pacific Yee zs very pgs eene: barred his further career in the 
Colonial service. A correspondence with Kew, begun some 20 years 
flora, and Kew owes to him many new species whieh he successfully 
transmitted to it. The Colony he mdi so long was an object to him of 
almost parental affection, and his letters to Kew are a continuous record 
of his efforts to promote its material development, 
Seed Distribution.—The following is a statement of the number of 
kets of seeds distributed from the Royal Gardens during 1896-7 
(December 1 to March 31) to other Botanic Institutions at home 
and abroad :— 
Hardy ane” plants - - - 1228 
Ligneous plan - - 3018 
Various (tioktly tropical) " - - — 457 
10,698 
last year, tubers having been received from Mrs. Deglon, of Barberton. 
The figure of Grevillea hilliana was prepared from a specimen sent to 
Kew by Thomas Hanbury, Esq., of La Mortola. It is a native of 
Eastern Australia. Denürobibn sarmentosum from Burma was received 
from Mr. C. Curtis, F.L.S., Superintendent of the Botanic eren A nd 
Plantations of Penang. e flowers are violet-scented. Didymocarpus 
malayana is a new species, probably native of Penang, sent to Kew by 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea. 
