July 2, 1900.1 THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
5 
the Boyal Botanic Gardens at Peradeuiya. As 
co-avithor of the voluminous and standaid work, 
Jfedicinal Plants by Triuien and Bently, he was au 
fait in medical botany, which he turned to good 
purpose by establishing in Peradeniya Gardens a 
botanical Museum, containing collections of native 
and fore'gn drugs, fibres, timbers, grains, curiosities 
&c. Branch-garedns were- fo mded by liim at Anur i- 
dhapura and Badulla, in 1883 and 1686 respectively. 
The pages of various scientific journals, more parti- 
cularly the Journal of Botanij, of which he himself 
was editor from 1870 to 1880, were frequently en- 
riched by Tricien's contributions on Ceylon Botany, 
and no less than fifty papers " stand under his 
name at the Eoyal Society, of which he was a dis- 
tinguished Fellow. His maonum opus is however, 
his l<lora of Cojlon, which, unfortunately for the 
Colony, he did not live to tiuish. The completion 
of this work has, happily, been undertaken by the 
veteran Sir Joseph Hooker of Kew, Dr. Tiimfn 
having completed the first three volumes, wiih an 
atlas of plates, which biing the book as far down as 
Balanophoracese in the older of Bentham and Hookers 
Genera Plantarum. Sir Joseph has creditably accom- 
plished his task, the fifth and last volume being 
now finished. The plan of Triraens's Flora is ack- 
nowledged to be a model of what such floras shoitld 
be, it being, as far as completed by him, character- 
ised by the critical insight and terse lucidity which 
always distinguished the author. Though the real 
value of Dr. Trimen's Flora " cannot well be esti- 
mated, more especially as Thwaites' " Enr.meratio " 
—though superseding preceding works — is of use to 
botanists only, an idea of its merit may be '• in- 
ferred from the fact that, according to the preface 
one principal object of the work is to enable the 
observers to ascertain the name of any plant they 
may find growing wild ;" afterwards learning '' all 
that may may have been written about it, appre- 
ciating its relationship with other plants, tracing its 
geographical limits, and intelligently investigating its 
properties and uses." In 1896 shortly before his 
death. Dr. Trinien contributed to the Journal of 
Botany," vol. XXXIV, A 'preliminary List of Maldive 
Plants, with notes, based on a collection of plants 
sent him from the Maldive Islands, it being his 
intention to write later a Flora of these islands. 
Trimen's name is perpetuated in Ficus Trimeni (and 
others) ; a tree of this species forms a hand- 
some object in Peradeniya Gardens. Vol. XXXIV 
of the " Journal of Bombay " is dedicated to this 
savant, and the same volume contains a memoir and 
a portrait of him. 
Still further we may give the closing passage of 
a brief notice by G. S. Boulger, F.L.S., f.g.s., 
Professor of Botany, City ot London College, 
appended to Vol. V. of the " Ceylon Flora";— 
The zeal with which, on his appointment as 
Director at Peradeniya in 1879, he took up Thwaites's 
work was seen in the thorough rearrangement 
of the plants in the Gardens in scientific order, in 
much work at economic botany,, especially quinology, 
recorded in his annual official reports, and in a dili- 
gent exploration of the island for materials for the 
present work. He published 'Hortus Zeylanicus: 
•A. . . . List of the Pia'ts ... .in the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Peradeniya,' in 1888; a Catalogue of the 
Library .... in 1899 ; and a Hand-Guide to the 
.... Gardens,' in 1890, of which the last-named 
reached a fourth edition in 1894, whilst reference 
has also been made to his careful work upon 
Hermann's lurbarium whilst in Eugland in 1886. 
The climate of Ceylon, however, seems to have proved 
fatal to him. He aged prematurely, became totally 
deaf, and was partially paralysed; but, after being 
again in England during 1S95, he insisted 
returning to Ceylon, hoping to finifh the ' Hand- 
bock,' the publication of which had begun in 1893, 
Crimen died at Kandy, October 16th, 1896. and was 
buried near his predecessor in the Mahaiyawa Ceme- 
tery. His name was given by Dr. King, Calcutta, 
to the magnificent Singhalese banyan Ficus Trimeni 
The memoir by Mr. James Britten in the ' Journal' 
of Botany,' for 1896 (pp. 4-9-491), from which most 
of the above is taken, is accompanied by a portrait 
tiom a photograph; but his best memorial'in the 
history of boiany in Ceylon, is undoubtedly the 
present work, though he did not live to complete it. 
— G S.BOULGEE, 
In conclusion, we give a couple of extracts 
from the Ccijlon Observer. The lir.st is part of 
an article written by us while absent in Eng- 
land, in defence of our friend against ignorant 
and impatient local critici.sni 
' DK TBIMRN's WOHK IN CEYLON AND— LOCAL CRITICISM. 
(From " Ceylon Ohserver," June 30th, 1890.) 
" Uu the eve of the final departure of the Director 
of the Botanic Gardens, it may seem a little unkind 
and invidious to enter on controversy as to the merit 
and usefulness of his administrative, economic, and 
scientific services to the community. But to compare 
Dr. Trimen's work with that of Mr. of 
—useful officer as the latter is in his own 
sphere— as was recently done by a planting corres- 
pondent of the Oh erver, is simply absurd. Take Dr 
Trimen's latest work : " The Floba of Ceylon " in 
three volumes— why, it is impossible to overestimate 
the value of this work for practical, educational, and 
scientific purposes in the Colony, For thirty years 
we had been accustomed to listen to the late 
Mr. A. M. Ferguson's earnest desire that such a 
work should be prepared for the benefit of all who 
took an intelligent interest in the vegetation of the 
island. Dr. Thwaites' great work on Cevlon plants 
might w'ell be complained of by any "" practical 
planter " as above his head— being essentially a 
scientific botanists's book. But Dr. Trimen, while 
taking care to serve the purposes of science,' and to 
be as full and correct as any reasonable botanist 
could desire, has added a series of most useful 
economic notes which simply makes his work a 
treasure house to the ordinary intelligent reader 
to all in fact who wish to know what can be said 
about each of our plants Cuseful and ornamental) 
and especially about the timber trees and economic 
products of the Island. That the highly accom- 
plished and worthy Director should have persisted 
in this important undertaking to the sacrifice of 
his health, if not of all that makes life worth 
living, speaks highly lor his conscientious devotion 
to duty and deserves the grateful acknowledge- 
ment, not only of the Government, but of every 
right-thinking man in the community. So much for 
the most important single work, peihaps, which has 
maiked Dr. Trimen's Administration. But we are 
equally clear that never before in the history of the 
Island has more attention been given incur Botanic 
Gardens to every question bearing on the economic 
as well as scientific side of planting, and tropical 
agriculture generally, than during the past fifteen 
years. We speak of that we do know; for as editor 
both of daily and monthly issues, we have con. 
tinuously been made the medium of requests for im- 
formition, of puzzling questions, of plants forwarded 
for identification by planters— not to speak of our 
own many editorial queries— and we have never 
failed to receive the most prsmpt and satisfactoiy 
attention from Dr. Trimen." 
Next we have the closing scene : — 
" Di ATH OP DK. TEIJIEN. 
(Fi-om " Ceylon Ohserver," Oct. 19tb, 1896.) 
"We regret to have to announce the death of 
Dr. Trimen, late Director of the Royal Botanic 
Gaadens, which event took place on Friday 
