384 
Obituary. 
<  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t  Aug.  1,  1872. 
Robert  Wight,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  L.  S.,  etc. — Science  has  lost  one  of  her 
best  workers,  and  Indian  Botany  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  through  the 
death  which  we  record.  Dr.  Wight  died  at  Grazeley  Lodge,  Reading,  on  the 
26th  of  May,  aged  76. 
Dr.  Wight  was  born  at  Milton,  Duncra  Hill,  East  Lothian,  on  July  6th,  1796, 
and  took  his  degree  at  Edinburgh,  in  1816.  Soon  afterwards  he  entered  the 
East  India  Company's  service,  serving  first  as  Assistant  Surgeon,  and  subse- 
quently as  full  Surgeon  in  the  33d  Regiment  of  Foot.  During  this  time,  trav- 
elling from  place  to  place,  and  throughout  his  long  life  in  India,  he  devoted 
extraordinary  talent  and  energy  to  the  collection,  description  and  illustration 
of  Indian  plants.  In  1834,  whilst  staying  in  Edinburgh  on  furlough,  he  pub- 
lished, in  conjunction  with  Professor  Arnott,  of  that  city,  the  first  and  only 
volume  of"  Prodromus  Florae  Peninsulas  Orientalis  "  (1834),  a  work  that  has 
been  spoken  of  as  "  the  most  able  and  valuable  contribution  to  Indian  Botany 
which  has  ever  appeared."  Dr.  Wight's  return  to  India,  however,  did  not  allow 
of  the  completion  of  the  work. 
The  success  of  this  publication  had  the  effect  of  stimulating  Dr.  Wight  to 
further  exertions,  and,  on  his  return  to  Madras,  he  commenced  a  very  valua- 
ble work,  entitled  "Illustrations  of  Indian  Botany,"  two  volumes  of  which  were 
published,  containing  182  colored  plates  of  various  Indian  plants.  This  work 
was  followed  by  a  still  larger  one,  entitled  u  Icones  Plantarum  Indise  Orient- 
alis," which  consisted  of  valuable  descriptions,  illustrated  with  2101  uncolored 
plates.  After  this  appeared  a  third  illustrated  work  on  the  flora  of  the  Neil- 
gherries,  entitled  "  Spicilegium  Neilgherrense."'  The  illustrations  of  all  these 
works  are  very  good  ;  and  one  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the  indomitable 
perseverance  shown  by  Dr.  Wight  in  the  success  and  fidelity  of  their  produc- 
tion at  the  time  when  lithography  was  in  a  very  rude  state  in  India. 
Besides  these  large  publications,  a  great  number  of  memoirs  by  Dr.  Wight 
are  to  be  found  in  various  botanical  journals.  Very  many  valuable  medicinal 
and  other  useful  plants  have  been  figured  and  described  by  him.  We  need 
only  mention  as  illustrations :  Tylophora  asthmatica,  Argemone  mexicana, 
Calysaccionlongifolium,  Mesua  ferrea,  Valeria  indica,  Ailanthus  excelsa,  Rhus 
succedanea,  Moringa  pterygosperma,  etc. 
Dr.  Wight  paid  great  attention,  not  only  to  the  developing  of  Indian  pro- 
ducts, but  also  to  the  introduction  of  other  articles,  such  as  tea,  cinchona  and 
cotton.  He  was  for  a  long  time  superintendent  of  the  cotton  plantations  at 
Coimbator,  and  published  various  memoirs  on  the  subject  of  cotton.  Dr.  Wight 
retired  finally  from  India  in  1853,  and,  since  that  period,  has  been  working  at 
the  Indian  Flora  as  much  as  his  health  would  allow ;  and  by  his  notes  and  ma- 
terials largely  assisting  others  working  in  the  same  field.  Dr.  Wight  was  mar- 
ried in  1838,  and  leaves  a  widow,  four  sons  and  a  daughter.  In  presence  of  so 
much  work  accomplished,  as  shown  in  this  slight  sketch  of  one  of  the  ablest 
Indian  botanists  that  ever  lived,  and  remembering  the  labors  of  Roxburgh, 
Griffith,  Royle  and  others,  one  is  tempted  to  use  the  phrase,  "There  were 
giants  in  those  days.'; — Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  June  22,  1872. 
