60 



in failing health for some time, but a fatal termination to the illness, 

 which recently confined him to his room, was not generally antici- 

 pated. He was taken seriously ill about a month ago with a compli- 

 cation of heart and lung troubles,. It was only within the last week 

 or so, that the Government decided to grant long leave of absence to 

 Mr. Jenman. in order that he might proceed to England to recruit, as 

 it was fondly hoped, his shattered health, it being recognized that his 

 breakdown was due to long and arduous labours in this tropical clime. 



Mr. Jenman was a native of the south of England, but early in life 

 he went with his family to the south of Ireland, where his boyhood 

 days were spent. He selected horticulture as the profession he was to 

 pursue, and entered the world-famous botanic gardens at Kew. 

 There he remained for several years prosecuting his studies both in 

 theory and practice, with such success that when a botanist was 

 wanted in 1873 to take charge of the Castleton Gardens, Jamaica, the 

 choice of the authorities fell on the young gardener from Ireland. 

 After spending six years in that colony, Mr. Jenman was appointed 

 Government Botanist and Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens of 

 British Guiana, when these were instituted under Government super- 

 vision in 1879. Under his care, the Gardens have been laid out and 

 cultivated, what was once to all intents and purposes waste land being 

 converted into one of the finest and most valuable botanic gardens 

 in the "West Indies. His experiments in tropical culture extended 

 over a large variety of plants and growths, but what his name has been 

 most closely associated with are seedling cane experiments. At first, 

 on his own initiative, and later, on the arrival of Professor Harrison 

 in the colony, in close association with the Government Chemist, 

 Mr. Tenman carried out a long series of experiments which have made 

 the names of Harrison and Jenman almost household words wherever 

 the sugar cane is cultivated. In other branches he was equally distin- 

 guished, and many plants indigenous to the tropics have been disco- 

 vered by and named after him Nor did he confine his attention to 

 botany , in zoology and natural history he was equally at home, de- 

 voting much time to original research He contributed largely to 

 literature on the subjects which he had made a life study ; and his 

 .articles in " The Argosy," in British and American scientific journals, 

 and to learned societies, attracted widespread attention, and were fully 

 appreciated as he had many tokens to show, by scientific men through- 

 out the world. He was in his fifty-seventh year.— [The Argosy, 

 Demerara, 1 March, 1902,) 



[Mr. Jenman made the ferns of Jamaica a special object of study, 

 and he contributed to this Bulletin a long series of articles on his 

 favourite subject. Jamaica is one of the richest spots on the globe for 

 variety of ferns, nearly 500 species being found here. Mr. Jenman' s 

 descriptions in the Bulletin have induced many fern-collectors from 

 the British Isles and from America to visit our shores. From a bota- 

 nical point of view his articles are of great value, and constant appli- 

 cations are received for copies of the Bulletin containing them. It is 

 much to be desired that they could be reprinted in one publication for 

 the convenience of visitors and others who study our native ferns. 

 Editor, Bulletin of the Botanical Department of Jamaicd\. 



