Page:Illustrations of Indian Botany, Vol. 1.djvu/25

 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.

The conditions on which this Work was undertaken, namely, a subscription list of one hundred names, (the Government having previously subscribed for 50 copies) being now nearly completed, I have much pleasure in laying before the the First Number. I should have felt more gratified, could I have issued this Number a month earlier, though the list of Subscribers fell considerably short of the number required, to cover the cost of the publication, in the well-grounded anticipation, that the requisite support would not have been withheld, in the event of its merits proving such as to entitle it to Public approbation. The difficulties and obstructions however, with which I found the Lithographic and colouring departments of the work beset, proved such, as not merely to prevent this, much wished-for, arrangement, but at one time threatened to put a stop to the publication altogether. These impediments have at length been surmounted, and the operations for conducting the pictorial portion of the work put in such a train, as leaves little room to doubt of ample success attending its subsequent progress.

In the present Number it is not without regret that I perceive considerable inequality in the merits of the plates, but as the last executed are the best, this circumstance, of itself, holds out the cheering prospect, that even they, though far from discreditable to the state of the Arts in Madras, still fall considerably short of the perfection, to which, I think, we may justly hope to attain.

The descriptive portion of the Work, it will be perceived, is very full, especially in the botanical details, more so indeed, than was originally intended. This course I have been in some measure forced to adopt, from having, in the course of the examination of the materials required in the composition of this division, been unavoidably led to the conclusion, that much of our ignorance of the more valuable vegetable productions of India, the arborious plants in particular, is attributable to the deficiency of botanical knowledge among us, and that whatever tends to increase the latter, will equally enlarge our acquaintance with the former. The following extract from a letter from the Council of the " United Service Museum," to Colonel Frith, of Madras, places this statement in a clear light, and shows that the view I have taken is supported by the highest authorities. It is necessary to premise, with reference to the subject of the extract, that Colonel Frith, about two years ago collected in the course of a tour, partly uudertaken for that purpose, a number of specimens of the various kinds of timber in use in different parts of the country. A set of these specimens containing one hundred and eleven sorts, he sent to the United Service Museum, an acknowledgment of which, handsome donation, he received a few days ago, and sent me the extract, thinking it possible I might be able to give him some, at least, of the botanical names from an inspection of the specimens.

"You may remember I sent home specimens of timber to the United Service Museum 111 in number. They have been received, the letter of acknowledgment says ' In returning you their thanks for your very interesting collection of woods, the Council have desired me to request as a particular favour, if attainable, a list of the botanical names, corresponding to the native names affixed : this would be of infinite value, as it would permanently identify the specimen which the native name may fail to do in future years. Such a list would be a most valuable document indeed for many purposes.' "

It was not without regret that I felt myself forced to decline attempting, from such materials, to meet the Colonel's wishes, under the apprehension of doing more harm than good by assigning wrong names, but I requested and procured his permission to make known the wishes of the Council of the Museum, for the purpose of suggesting to those who might in future make such collections, the propriety of, at the same time, collecting a corresponding set of specimens of flowering slips or branches to accompany them, each being similarly named and numbered ; since, by an examination of these, the Botanical names could be ascertained. In size they need riot exceed those represented in the accompanying figures, some, of which indeed were taken from dried specimens. For their preservation, all that is required is to spread them between the folds of two or three sheets of common Bazar paper, and lay them in the sun covered with a layer of sand about an inch thick. Two or three days exposure will usually suffiee to dry them, after which, they will keep for any length of time, if kept in a dry place, and though their colour may be lost, they are nearly as fit for Botanical purposes, as when first gathered. Flowers and fruit are required for the determination of the order and genus ; and the leaves, to assist in indicating the species.