26 



RUMPHIUS'S HERBARIUM AMBOINENSE 



exploration of Malaya, in order that representatives of certain 

 elements of the flora shall be secured while they are still available 

 or at least easily accessible. A continued and intensive explora- 

 tion of the Moluccas is greatly to be desired before the actual 

 plants that will yield material to clear up various Rumphian 

 species of doubtful status shall have become extinct or at best 

 local and of rare occurrence. 



It was originally planned that Doctor Robinson should pro- 

 secute his field work for about four months, but as the work 

 progressed it became increasingly evident to him that this period 

 of time was altogether too short. On the basis of representations 

 made by him, Doctor Robinson was authorized to continue his 

 field work until June, 1914, thus giving him practically a year in 

 the field. It was planned that he should also extend his field 

 work to neighboring islands, and at the time of his death he had 

 made arrangements to visit Buru Island, as for the season he 

 had secured a high percentage of the Amboina species to be 

 found in flower or fruit. It was fully realized that his time 

 could be more profitably spent in exploring neighboring islands, 

 utilizing the intermediate periods between trips for a reexamina- 

 tion of the various parts of Amboina for the purpose of locating 

 in flower or fruit those species that had not been detected during 

 his first period, July to December, of intensive field work. His 

 wholly unexpected death prevented the fulfillment of these plans. 



This work has been based on the material and observations 

 secured in a period of four and one-half months. It is evident 

 that could the revised plan have been carried out and field work 

 extended until June, 1914, much more material and data would 

 have been available for study, with the result that the interpreta- 

 tion of the Herbarium Amboinense would have been more satis- 

 factory and more nearly complete than it is. 



Botanists and collectors who have actually prosecuted field 

 work in Amboina* include LaBillardiere, the first naturalist to 

 visit the island after Rumphius's death, Christopher Smith, the 

 younger Roxburgh, Lahaie, Reinwardt, d'Urville, Zippel, Lesson, 

 Hombron, Forsten, de Vriese, Teysmann, Naumann, Binnendyk, 

 de Fretes, Beccari, Forbes, Warburg, Karsten, Boerlage, Treub, 

 J. J. Smith, and Robinson. Some were there but for a few days, 

 others for longer periods; and their collections, now widely 

 scattered in different herbaria, comprise several thousand speci- 

 mens. Were it possible to segregate from the various herbaria 



* Warburg, O. Die botanische Erforschung der Molukken seit Rumpf's 

 Zeiten. Rumphius Gedenkboek 1702-1902 (1902) 63-78. 



