Botanists throughout the world and more especially those who have made a special study of the Natural Family Orchidaceae would desire to offer their congratulations and good wishes in person to Dr J. J. Smith on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. Since that privilege, however, is denied to so many of us, I desire on behalf of my British colleagues, and especially on behalf of the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to offer to Dr. Smith our sincere thanks for the valuable work he has carried out on the Orchidaceae, Ericaceae and Euphorbiaceae, in particular of the Malayan region and more especially of the Dutch East Indies during the past thirty-five years; and to express the hope that he may long be spared to continue his valuable researches and enrich botanical literature from the vast stores of his accumulated knowledge and wide experience.