JOHN MEDLEY WOOD 
35 
He had a wonderful memory not only for plants and plant names but for 
the ordinary affairs of life. It was a great pleasure to listen to his reminis- 
cences of Early Natal and Zululand, the people and stories of their lives. 
And from what I have seen and heard I should say that in Natal of the 
fifties to the seventies of last century there was a larger proportion of 
oddities and unusual characters, fine and otherwise, than fall to many larger 
communities. I often told my friend that he should embody and fix these 
recollections in book form. It would have been of entrancing interest to my 
generation and the next but he said that writing about plants was sufficient 
demand on his literary capacity. 
The married life of my two old friends was of the happiest and when 
Mrs Wood who was slightly his senior passed away about three years ago we 
feared it might so affect him that he would quickly follow her. He bore his 
sorrow with characteristic bravery but we never knew what a trial it was. 
When he received his Doctor’s degree at the University of the Cape of Good 
Hope he said pathetically indeed that this would have intensely pleased his 
wife. Now we trust they are reunited. 
His physical powers were of a high order. In his youth he took much 
exercise and in particular I know from my own experience what a wonderful 
walker he was. Getting older he had to circumscribe his activities but to 
the last he took the keenest interest in football and cricket and seldom 
missed a Saturday afternoon at the Oval where he was as well known as the 
active participants. 
He was a regular Church goer and an office bearer of the Berea 
Presbyterian Church but he belonged to the Church Catholic, frequently 
attending service at the Church of England and other denominations if he 
felt he could benefit thereby. 
His death came suddenly and painlessly and he was working to the 
last day. 
We shall miss him, but our sorrow is not unmixed with other emotions. 
Many pleasant memories cluster round his name. He had a happy and 
useful life devoted to a study that gave him intense pleasure and constant- 
delight, yet full of human interest also. A man of the highest character, 
upright, fearing only to do the wrong, he has been a stimulus and guide 
to many and his name will live in the future in connection with the study 
to which his life was devoted and the country he loved so well. 
MAURICE S. EVANS. 
The record of Dr J. Medley Wood’s contributions to botanical science 
is practically identical with the history of Botany in INatal up to 
