10 



RUMPHIUS'S HERBARIUM AMBOINENSE 



degree. Under the circumstances the future investigator will 

 doubtless find in the present work errors both of omission and 

 of commission. Much remains to be done before all the species 

 that are typified by the Rumphian descriptions are thoroughly 

 understood, but a great part of this work will depend on a 

 continued and comprehensive botanical exploration of Amboina 

 and of the neighboring islands with special attention to this 

 object. 



The actual working up of the results could best have been 

 done at one of the large European botanical institutions, where 

 access could be had to large libraries, to comprehensive collec- 

 tions of botanical material from all parts of the world, and to 

 type and authentically named specimens, as well as the oppor- 

 tunity of consulting specialists in various groups. As a trip to 

 Europe was impracticable, the work was done in Manila, utilizing 

 the local library and herbarium. 



In the prosecution of the task I have been obliged to interpret 

 numerous species from their published descriptions, as herbarium 

 material representing them was not available in Manila. Like- 

 wise, there are a number of botanical works containing refer- 

 ences to the Herbarium Amboinense that I have been unable to 

 consult, as no copies of these were to be had in Manila. This 

 difficulty has been overcome in part by borrowing certain es- 

 sential works, and in part by sending to various botanical 

 institutions for copies of original descriptions, which have gener- 

 ously been supplied by botanists in the United States and in 

 Europe. In general, while it is realized that the present inter- 

 pretation of the species described in the Herbarium Amboinense 

 is incomplete and imperfect, it is also realized that completeness 

 and perfection in this difficult task are relative terms and that 

 many of the species that I have been obliged to enumerate as 

 of more or less doubtful status could not have been more de- 

 finitely placed, even if I had had access to all of the botanical 

 literature and an opportunity to examine all of the extant 

 botanical material from the Indo-Malayan region. It is felt, 

 however, that the present treatment of the Rumphian species 

 meets a real requirement and that, to a very large degree, it 

 will clear the way for the more intensive study of the problems 

 in connection with each individual species of doubtful status. 



E. D. Merrill. 



