THE BOTANIC GARDENS AT KEW. 107 



tablishment— what they called a " Physic Garden" in those days— 

 by the widow of Frederick, the dowager Princess Augusta, under 

 the advice of the Earl of Bute. She employed William Aiton to 

 direct the scientific work, and Sir William Chambers to superin- 

 tend the decorative gardening. " Science will ever be grateful to 

 the one," says a writer in The Saturday Review,* "and Taste 

 will never forgive the other while his constructions remain." In 

 1768 Sir John Hill published a catalogue of the plants at Kew. 

 There were fifty ferns, about six hundred trees and shrubs, and 

 several thousands of herbaceous plants. The list was not greatly 

 lengthened twenty-one years after, when Aiton issued the Hortus 

 Kewensis with the aid of Dr. Solander. But the collections 

 made by Sir Joseph Banks in Captain Cook's famous voyage were 

 deposited here ; then those of Robert Brown and Allan Cunning- 

 ham, who had accompanied Captains Flinders and King respect- 

 ively to Australia; then the plants of Brazil and the Cape of 

 Good Hope, gathered by Messrs. Bowie and Masson; those of 

 Caley, and Ker, and Menzies, and a host of smaller collections. 

 In 1810 William Aiton the younger published a new edition of 

 his father's work, which contained nearly ten thousand descrip- 

 tions. About 1789 the estate was bought by George III, who 

 devoted much of his leisure to its improvement. But evil days 

 followed the death of Sir Joseph Banks, in whom Kew had a friend 

 at court. For all Aiton could do, the gardens sank into neglect, 

 and in 1838 it was proposed to disestablish and disendow them. 

 A protest was raised, and, after further consideration, the gardens 

 were surrendered by the crown and became a national establish- 

 ment in 1810. Sir W. J. Hooker was appointed director in the 

 following year. Kew has been fortunate in having had few 

 changes in directors. It was in charge of William Aiton from 

 1759 to 1793 ; of William Aiton, Jr., from 1793 to 1840 ; Sir W. J. 

 Hooker was director from 1841 to 1866 ; his son, Sir Joseph D. 

 Hooker, from 1866 to 1886 ; and to him has succeeded Mr. W. T. 

 Thiselton Dyer. 



Under the directorship of Sir W. J. Hooker the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens rapidly advanced in importance. During his term of 

 ofiice a report of the Progress and Condition of the gardens was 

 made annually. This was superseded in 1883 by a monthly Bul- 

 letin of Miscellaneous Information. The early reports of Sir 

 William Hooker are interesting, besides their historic and scien- 

 tific value, for the evidence they give of his sturdy, ceaseless bat- 

 tles with the Treasury. The director is pathetic, indignant, and 

 argumentative by turns, and one way or another he contrived to 



* The writer is indebted to an appreciative article in The Saturday Review (Lon- 

 don), of October 5, 12, and 19, 1889, for the material of this sketch. 



