~ 
121 
cay of March, as a donation in perpetuity, and for all time, as a gift. 
rom J. W. "Thomson, 1 in 91st year; the Stock will stand in the name of 
og director for the time being. 
I also intend, so long as the pu. fh in his great Sonne permits 
me to occupy a locus stand: in boundless space, also to perambulate 
en Jirma, to contribute my annual Jonai of five guineas to the 
uild. 
m, &c, 
Ia j 
(Signed)  J. W. THOMSON. 
Wak; DP ET ee Esq 
C.M.G., C.LE., FRS; “PhD. F.L.S. 
News was received with great regret at Kew in March last of the 
death of Mr. WILLIAM CROWTHER, who for the last four years pl been 
the able and efficient curator of the Botanic Station at Pe n the 
Gold Coast. Mr. Crowther was appointed in 1889 (K. w Bulletin, 
1891, pp. 169-173). He fully justified the selection for the post, and, 
as shown in these pages (Kew Bulletin, 1892, PP 14 and 297 ; 1893, 
pp. 160—62), the station at Aburi, covering nearly forty acres of land, 
had been admirably planned and was established | with valuable economic 
trees and shrubs brought together from all parts of the world. In 
addition, there were large nurseries for supplying seedling plants of 
coffee, cacao, and spices to the natives for starting new industries. 
the work of the station the curator had from the first the judicious and 
sympainens guidance of Sir William Brandford Griffith, K.C.M.G., to 
h it owes both its inception and success. 
e 
return he prepare ared a very interesting report giving an account of 
his mission, pointing out the special subjects likely to v won 
cultivated in West Africa (Kew Bulletin, 1894, p. 227). 
Mr. Crowther's removal is a great blow to botanical enterprise in this 
part of the world. The station at Aburi is at an elevation of 1500 ft., 
and attached to it is a sanatorium for European officers. The locality 
is, therefore, regarded a: | EN healthy. From a despatch 
addressed to the Colonial Office by Sir W. Brandford Griffith, it 
appears that . Crowther died from abscess of the liver. His 
d Mo: was at Aburi at the time, adds, * I saw him frequently 
ing illness. He gradually sank and died on the 16th March. 
Tn were interred in the cemetery at Accra, his funeral bei 
largely attended by several publie officers and others who "Yee 
his untimely death. By this sad event the Government has lost 
of its most valuable officers." 
Botanical — The most remarkable n represented in the 
number lor March is "Weldenie uc (Lampra volcanica), a member 
of the Commelinacee, referred to in the Bulletin for 1894, p. 135, on 
the occasion of its flowering at Rew: t has a curious history, which 
is not fully given in the notes in question. Dr.. chultes, junior, 
first described it, in 1829, from specimens purporting to have been 
