Palms of British Guiana. 221 
preparing specimens ; and at the same time I took a 
careful series of measurements of every species of palm 
with which we met. My collection, together with 
a part of Mr. Jenman'S almost parallel series, was sent 
for identification, partly to Professor Trail of Aber- 
deen, the chief English authority on the palms of South 
America, and partly to Professor Drude, the great Ger- 
man specialist in the same subject. Professor Trail 
kindly sent me his identifications and notes ; and these 
will afford me perhaps the most valuable aid in the com- 
pilation of this paper. 
It might perhaps be better to rest satisfied with the 
publication of the notes on the species actually observed 
during the above mentioned journey on the Corentyn 
but that I am anxious to make this paper a complete 
record of all the facts hitherto observed concerning the 
palms of British Guiana. In attempting this I must, how- 
ever, guard myself against any possible imputation of 
attempting a history of the palms of the district. My 
notes are rather a gathering together of the very scat- 
tered, and almost wholly inaccessible, facts as yet known 
on this subject ; and the object is to make it easier for 
future students to investigate this interesting subject. 
There is no family of plants which presents greater diffi- 
cult ies to the travelling botanist than does that of the 
palms. On account of the great difficulty, already 
mentioned, in procuring and preserving adequate speci- 
mens, comparatively little has been written about these 
plants. There is, it may almost be said, but one stan- 
dard and authoritative work on palms* ; and that 
* Historia Naturalis Palmarum, Munich, 1823-50. Three Volumes 
Imperial folio, with 245 plates, partly coloured. 
EE 2 
