6 
Guinea, as well as smaller collections from Malaya and Laos, which will 
now be incorporated into the Herbarium. In the course of this work he took 
the opportunity to indicate on the herbarium specimens the publications in 
which they and their duplicates had been cited. In this way many specimens 
from Elmer’s Borneo collections were named, correcting some names and 
indicating isotypes. Opportunity was also taken to name as far as possible 
many unnamed specimens already incorported into the herbarium in previous 
years. He answered many queries from the Police, Chemistry, Customs and 
Agricultural Departments of the Federation of Malaya and Singapore, as 
well as other bodies and individuals and named specimens of plants and plant 
fragments submitted. 
27. The Director completed his determinations of over 1,100 numbers 
collected by him in Sarawak in 1955-6, while the Assistant Director named 
many of his Malayan specimens. 
28. Mr. Burkill, the Assistant Director, sorted and arranged the algo- 
logical collection, comprising 1,071 sheets, according to Fritch’s system of 
classification. Many of the original collections of Setchell and Gardner are 
represented by co-type sheets. A marine green algae collected by Mr. 
Purseglove at Mersing was found to be Acetabularia crenulata, a new record 
for Malaysia. Apart from this record and one from Ceylon, this algae has 
only been collected in the Caribbean region. 
29. Mr. Chew Wee Lek, Botanist, has begun a taxonomic study of 
certain Malayan genera of Moraceae. 
30. Dr. G. A. Prowse, Botanist/Algologist of the Malacca Fish Cul¬ 
ture, Research and Training Institute continued his research on Malayan 
fresh-water algae at the Botanic Gardens until he transferred to the new 
station at Malacca in May. He made many interesting discoveries among 
the algae in the Gardens’ lake and elsewhere on the Island. 
31. Dr. P. B. Tomlinson, who spent a year at the University of Malaya 
and the Gardens studying the systematic anatomy of palms and Musaceae, 
left in June. He has now been appointed to the staff of Achimoto University 
College, Gold Coast. Mr. T. C. Whitmore, a Ph.D. student of Cambridge 
University, arrived in December. He is receiving a Colonial Development 
and Welfare Grant and will study the anatomy of the bark of Diptero- 
carpaceae in relation to taxonomy as part of his work for his doctor’s thesis. 
32. The Director co-operated with Dr. Bryce Douglas and Dr. Kiang 
Ai Kim of the University of Malaya, who are carrying out a phytochemical 
survey of Malayan plants. Dr. Bryce Douglas, a Visiting Research Associate 
of the Chemistry Department of the University of Malaya, arrived in 
September and is to spend two years in Singapore financed by the Smith, 
Kline and French Laboratories of Philadelphia. The preliminary screening 
for alkaloids has already produced some interesting results. 
V. HORTICULTURAL WORK 
(i) GENERAL 
33. The Gardens were kept in good condition during the year. Good 
service was obtained from the motor mowers, but during periods of pro¬ 
longed wet weather the heavy Dennis mowers could not be used. It is hoped 
that use can be made of the Hayter mowers on soft ground. Much of the 
time of the general labour force was occupied in clearing away uprooted 
trees. Some of these were old and moribund, but others were in vigorous 
growth, the damage usually occurring during strong gusts of wind when the 
