SHORT NOTES. 139 



do in a plantation of large sized trees would be very great. 

 Fortunately it is easily caught and very conspicuous, and by 

 abolishing all unnecessary fig trees from the neighbourhood of a 

 plantation and carefully attending to the young plants, the pest 

 out to be easily kept in check. H V T? 



In Memoriam 



Allan Maclean Skinner, C. M. G. 



The death of Mr. Skinner will be deeply regretted by 

 all who knew him, and as one of the original members of the 

 Society it is fitting that some special notice of the loss the 

 Society has sustained by his death should appear in the Jour- 

 nal. At the preliminary meeting held on 4th November 1877, 

 it was Mr. Skinner who proposed that the gentlemen present 

 should form themselves into a Society to promote the collec- 

 .tion and record of information relating to the Straits Settle- 

 ments and neighbouring countries. Of those present at the 

 first meeting the majority have died and the Bishop of Singa- 

 pore and Sarawak, the first President, is the only one still 

 resident in the East. 



At a meeting held in February 1878, was exhibited a skel- 

 eton map of the Malay Peninsula showing how little was then 

 known of the Native States. Under the personal direction of 

 Mr. Skinner the blank spaces were partially filled in and the 

 first map of the Peninsula was published by the Society. 



In the first number of the Journal is a valuable paper 

 by Mr. Skinner on the Geography of the Peninsula, with 

 maps. 



In 1883 Mr. Skinner was Vice President and in the Jour- 

 nal published in December 1882, appeared his 'Outline History 

 of the British Connection with Malaya,' a most useful compila- 

 tion which is reproduced in the Singapore and Straits Directory. 



Among his other contributions may be mentioned papers 

 on 'The Java System' and 'Straits Meteorology'. In 1885 Mr. 

 Skinner was elected Presid ent. He received the cordial thanks 



