fii) 
from villagers. To this information are added short popular descriptions 
of the plants. By means of these popular descriptions, helped out by 
the vernacular names, it is hoped that non- botanical readers will be 
able to identify many of the plants. I have taken considerable pains 
in selecting really useful vernacular names but so many different 
languages are spoken in Assam that selection has not always been easy. 
The vernacular names in Italics are well known to speakers of Hindustani 
almost throughout the north of India. Many of these names have 
innumerable forms. Wherever possible I have adopted the form written 
and spoken by educated Hindustani-speaking Indians. Most of those 
given in Roman type are Assamese. Vernacular names of plants must 
not be relied upon blindly. Very few of them art used for one plant 
only. 
Readers who do not know India may not know the meaning of the 
two words bast! and sag which occur frequently in the text. A bastl 
is a settlement, colony or village and sag is a term applied to green 
vegetable usually eaten in curry. 
To those to whom some of my notes about medicinal plants may 
appear trivial or even absurd I would tell the following story : — 
A Chuprasi recently came to me complaining of inflammation in 
his eye. I asked him if he has had any treatment. He took off his 
turban and showed me a shaved patch on his scalp on which he had 
been putting castor oil. I told him to put the castor oil into the eye 
instead of applying it to his head. This treatment repeated twice 
daily cured him in two days. It was to him and his folk traditional 
knowledge that castor oil was good for inflamed eyes but that traditional 
knowledge passing amongst people whose minds had not been invigorated 
by ;» liberal education had become distorted. 
We are indebted to many people in Lakhimpur for help during our 
tours, and particularly to Mr. L. Cooper, I.F.S., Mr. W. R. Le Gr. 
Jacob, I. F.S., .Deputy Conservators of Forests and Mr. W. C. M. Dundas, 
C.I.E., Political Officer, Sadiya. In collecting information during the 
tours great help was given by Babu Rajani Kanta Das, and in the 
preparation of this paper by Babus JJma Charan Pal and Hemendra 
Chandra Raner ji. all of the clerical staff of the Botanical Survey. 
While this paper was in the press news reached us of the untimely 
death of Mr. Evan A. Evans of Dibrugarh. Mr. Evans was a man of 
wide interests and gave us very great help often accompanying us on 
our rambles in the jungles. His many friends in Lakhimpur, more 
particularly those interested in Natural History, will miss him sorely. 
351 
