134 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
“You will, I am sure, be much pleased to hear that your 
experiment for the preservation of plants alive, without the 
necessity of water or open exposure to the air, has fully suc- 
ceeded. The two boxes entrusted to my care, containing 
ferns, mosses, grasses, etc., are now on the poop of the ship 
(where they have been all the voyage) ; and the plants (with 
the exception of two or three ferns which appear to have 
faded), are all alive and vigorous. 
“During the very hot weather, near the equator, I gave 
them a light sprinkling of water, and that is all they have 
received during the passage. All the plants have grown a 
great deal, particularly the grasses, which have been attempt- 
ing to push the top of the box off. ; 
“TI shall carry them forward to Sydney, according to your 
instructions, and have no doubt of delivering them into the 
hands of Mr. Cunningham in the same flourishing state in 
which they are at present. 
‘‘Allow me, in conclusion, to offer you my warn congratu- 
lations upon the success of this simple but beautiful dis- 
covery for the preservation of plants in the living state upon 
the longest voyages; and I feel not a little pride in having 
been the instrument by which the truth of your new prin- 
ciple has been fully proved by experiment.” 
As confirmation of the success of the experiment, Mr. 
Ward had the cases refilled with Australian plants and 
shipped from Syndey to London in February, 1834, the 
temperature at the former port ranging from 90 to 100° F. 
During the eight months of the trip various changes of 
temperature were experienced, from 20° F., at Cape Horn 
(where a severe snowstorm was encountered), to 100° F., at 
Rio Janeiro, and 120° F., at the equator, and finally to 
40° F., in the English Channel. The cases were left on 
deck during the entire voyage, and no water was supplied 
to the plants, which nevertheless were in a healthy and vigor- 
ous condition when unpacked at their destination. Several 
plants of Callicoma serrata had even grown from seeds. 
The British government readily accepted these miniature 
greenhouses for use in long-distance shipments, and began 
sending plants to the colonies from Kew Gardens. It was 
the Wardian case which made possible the introduction of 
the quinine plant (Cinchona succirubra) into India from 
South America. Plants and seeds were received at Kew 
Gardens in 1860, and in the following year 2170 seedling 
