A.PHIL SEPT. 1858.] 



Obituary. 



147 



contributed an admirable digest which contains all the information 

 that can be given. 



Of late, the materials for the manufacture of paper having be- 

 come scarce in England, much anxiety was felt as to the substitu- 

 tion of other fibrous material that might be used instead of the 

 linen rags. Dr. Royle in an Essay read before the Society of Arts 

 on the Fibrous Products of India, pointed out that many indige- 

 nous plants produced fibres that could be obtained very cheaply, 

 and in almost any quantity. No man has in fact, contributed 

 more to the practical application of Botanic Science, too often a 

 mere closet study, than this lamented Physician, whom we may 

 well regard as an ornament to his profession, being assured that 

 his name will go down in history as that of a benefactor *of his 

 species. This language will not seem exaggerated when we con- 

 sider the vast importance of the inquiries in which he so success- 

 fully engaged. With the cultivation of Cotton is connected the 

 question of the American Slave Trade, and the maintenance of our 

 prosperity as a manufacturing people. The production of Tea is a 

 matter of universal interest. 



The cheap manufacture of paper is a matter of such world wide 

 importance that it need not be insisted on. Some few years after 

 the establishment of King's College, London, Dr. Royle was called 

 to fill the important office of Professor of Materia Medica elected 

 in 1836, he occupied this chair for twenty years. The weight of 

 his name contributed to raise that institution to the prominent 

 position which it has since held. 



In 1837 he published an Essay " On the Antiquity of Hindu 

 Medicine" a work displaying much learning and research. 



His extensive knowledge of the Natural History of India made 

 him a valuable contributor to the periodical scientific literature, 

 and he was a contributor to the " Penny Cyclopaedia," " Kitto's 

 Dictionary of the Bible" and other works. He took an active in- 

 terest in promoting a knowledge of the material resources of India, 

 and in 1840 produced a work which perhaps will be read with more 

 interest now than when it was published. " On the Productive 

 Resources of India." 



