20 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and the appointment of Sir Rutherford Alcock as British 

 Minister, was an opportunity not to be neglected, and accord- 

 ingly my brother, John Gould, proceeded to the East in the 

 spring of 1860, and before returning home in the following year 

 succeeded in discovering three Abies not previously known to 

 science, two of which he introduced, in addition to all the in- 

 digenous Conifers known to Siebold, of which two, Pinus 

 densiflora and P. Thunbergii, had previously found their way to 

 Europe, probably through Siebold's agency. The Cryptomeria 

 had been introduced from China by Fortune several years 

 before, and Podocarims macrophylla had also been brought 

 from that country in the early part of the century. Fortune 

 introduced Thuya Standishii (properly T. japonica) in the same 

 year that my brother returned ; about ten years later seeds of 

 Abies brachyphylla were distributed from the Botanic Garden 

 at St. Petersburg, the seedlings afterwards receiving in addition 

 the names of Veitchii and Harryana. The latest acquisitions 

 were made by Maries, who, while collecting for our firm in 

 Japan, 1877-79, discovered the very distinct Fir that bears his 

 name ; he also sent to us the true Abies Veitchii, which John 

 Gould Veitch had discovered but failed to procure seeds of, and 

 A. sachalinensis, a northern tree with small cones like those of 

 A, Veitchii, and with foliage resembling that of A. sibirica. 

 The extensive knowledge of Japanese Conifers acquired by 

 Maries in their native country enabled us to give in our Manual 

 much interesting information respecting them not previously 

 known ; and the excellent materials brought home by him, which 

 were placed in the hands of Dr. Masters for determination, led 

 to the publication of a most valuable paper by our learned friend 

 in the Journal of the Linnean Society (vol. xviii., p. 473). This 

 paper contains the most complete enumeration of Japanese 

 Conifers yet compiled, and I therefore gladly follow it for our 

 present purpose. The latest contribution to our knowledge of 

 these trees comes from Dr. Mayr, Professor of Forestry at Tokio 

 (Jeddo), who, by a systematic arrangement of a large series of 

 observations of the trees in situ, has put us in possession of an 

 array of facts sufficient to allow of a tolerably just estimate to be 

 formed of them as seen in their native country. 



Dr. Masters says : " The Conifers recorded as natives of Japan 

 admit of being grouped in thirteen genera, of which one only is 



