^""'Feb^isS;*'™  }  ^^'^^  Nilgiris.  9S 
names  attached,  and  as  he  hesitated  about  giving  an  opinion  as  to  which 
was  the  red  bark,  I  did  not  then  push  the  inquiry  further.  Subsequently, 
while  collecting  botanical  and  bark  specimens,  I  was  in  daily  intercourse 
with  Mr.  Cross,  but  found  that  he  M^as  immovable  from  his  assumption 
that  a  mistake  had  been  committed  as  regards  the  identity  of  the  red  bark 
tree.i  I  attach  no  importance  to  this  however,  for,  notwithstanding  his 
presumed  familiarity  with  the  botanical  characters  of  the  red  bark,  he  took 
nearly  a  year  to  arrive  at  this  conclusion  and  never  even  hinted  at  the 
possibility  of  such  an  error  when  in  constant  communication  with  a  botan- 
ical expert  like  Colonel  Beddome.  In  my  opinion  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  tree  known  as  the  Bed  bark  on  the  Government  Plantations  is  the 
Cinchona  succirubra,  Pav.,  and  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  occupy  the 
time  of  Government  in  offering  proofs  tlaat  such  is  the  case,  although  for 
my  own  satisfaction  I  went  carefully  through  all  the  botanical  evidence  on 
the  subject." 
The  Governor  of  Madras,  Mr.  Grant  Duff,  himself  no  mean  bot- 
anist, had  previously  looked  into  the  matter  personally.  I  quote  the 
official  minute  in  which  he  records  his  own  opinion : 
Minute  by  the  Right  Honorable,  the  Governor,  dated  January  '26, 1882. 
^'  Para.  9.  From  Ootacamund  I  went  on  to  Neddiwuttum,  where 
Dr.  Bidie  was  established,  busily  engaged  in  examining  our  plantations 
with  Mr.  Cross  and  making  a  most  complete  collection  of  all  those 
specimens  which  would  be  required  for  finally  setting  to  rest  the 
doubts  as  to  the  genuineness  of  our  succirubra  with  which  Mr.  Cross 
fluttered  us  a  few  weeks  ago.  Col.  Jago  was  most  anxious  that  Mr. 
Cross  should  have  the  fullest  opportunity  of  stating  his  views  to  me, 
untrammeled  by  the  presence  of  a  third  person.  We  went  accord- 
ingly alone  into  the  woods  together,  and  he  pointed  out  to  me  what  he 
called  '  true  succirubra/  '  succirubra  of  the  Pata  variety,^  and  '  micran- 
tha.^  Colonel  Jago  then  joined  us  and  we  went  together  to  one  of  the 
trees,  which  our  people  have  hitherto  believed  to  be  micrantha,  and 
read  the  description  of  the  tree  under  its  branches.  Most  unques- 
tionably the  tree  that  we  have  hitherto  called  micrantha,  and  not  the 
tree  which  Mr.  Cross  has  now  taken  it  into  his  head  to  call  micrantha, 
is  the  micrantha  of  the  books;  that  is,  the  micrantha  heretofore  known 
to  botanists.  The  distinctions  between  it  and  any  form  of  succirubra 
are  most  clearly  marked,  and  are  infinitely  wider  than  the  distinction 
1  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  on  his  visit  to  the  estates,  at  once  saw 
Mr.  Cross's  error,  and  pointed  it  out  to  him,  but  he  still  adhered  pertina- 
ciously to  his  assertion. 
