His work obtained recognition from Dr. Hooker and other eminent biologists (see Ceylon, Physical, Historical and Topographical).
[1] With Albert Grunow he issued the exsiccata Algae Ceylanicae, legit W. Ferguson, determ.
[2] Also, in the scientific field of herpetology, Ferguson described two new species of reptiles, Aspidura guentheri and Cnemaspis scalpensis.
His proposers were William Dickson, David MacLagan, Thomas Brown and John MacGregor McCandlish.
see[5] He also left materials for a monograph on luminous beetles, including fireflies and glowworms, and a vast mass of miscellaneous notes of a scientific character.