1847.] 



William Griffith, Esq., R L. S. 



193 



Burmah, untrodden before by any civilized being, Bootan, Aff- 

 ghanistan, Khorasan, and the Peninsula of Malacca. During his 

 progress through these various countries he was exposed to difficul- 

 ties and privations, and to the most eminent hazard of health and life. 

 Through these trying scenes he was successfully carried by his indo- 

 mitable courage, and by that spirit of scientific enthusiasm which was 

 one of the most prominent features of his character. No man has 

 ever joined such extensive opportunities of enlarging our knowledge 

 of the flora of the east; and his success was commensurate with his 

 opportunities. Had he encountered such dangers and privations in 

 different and widely separated countries, and secured success through 

 the same display of courage, energy and perseverance, in a military 

 expedition, he would have ' had a Gazette to himself,' and have been 

 honored with stars and pensions." 



Soon afterwards on the annual distribution of prizes at the Medical 

 College on the 27th March, Sir Henry Hardinge in addressing the 

 Students alluded to the feeling terms in which the Secretary of the 

 Institution (Dr. Mouat) had adverted in his report to the loss sus- 

 tained by the College in the death of their late distinguished Professor. 

 His Excellency observed that he had heard Dr. Griffith spoken of as 

 a valuable public officer, and his name mentioned in every quarter as 

 a man of eminent scientific attainments, like whom few had ever come 

 to India. 



Lord Auckland also when as President of the Royal Asiatic Society, 

 he delivered his address at the Anniversary Meeting of the Society on 

 the 17th May, incorporated with it a short but discriminating and 

 highly honorable sketch of Mr. Griffith's life, commencing in the 

 following terms. " Mr. Griffith was one of the most accomplish- 

 ed Botanists of our days ; with the most accurate and extensive ac- 

 quisition of learning in his department, he combined a spirit of ac- 

 tivity and enterprise, such as has been rarely equalled, great ta- 

 lents, and a very remarkable power of labor, arrangement, and ap- 

 plication." 



The last tribute we shall notice is that offered to his memory by 

 his fellow Officers of the Medical Service at Madras, a few of whom 

 in acknowledgment of the honor conferred upon their body by one so 

 eminent in every professional acquirement, have procured the erection 

 cf a mural tablet in the Cathedral Church of St. George at that place, 

 bearing the following inscription : 



A a 



