I'Hii FAUMEIVS MAGAZINE. 



4S1 



COLLECTIONS OF PRODUCE AND ANIMAL FOOD.— THE KENSINGTON MUSEUM. 



We liave from time to time drawn attention to the 

 various cfForts making to develop the industrial pro- 

 duct!; and also the economic uses of plants and 

 animals. Every step in this direction, properly carried 

 out, is calculated to be of emiueni benefit in a national 

 point of view, in diffusing sound practical information, 

 and in developing that kind of knowledge whicli tends 

 gi'eatly to promote the more extended application of 

 known products, as well as the introduction and experi- 

 mentalizing on or trial of new ones. In the metropolis 

 we have already three important collections, all rapidly 

 increasing-, and which, even in their present condition, 

 are highly useful for stiuly and investigation. 



The Museum of Economic Botany at Kew, under the 

 able superintendence of Sir W. Hooker, has already at- 

 tained to an eminent position for amount and variety. , 

 The new museum building has given greater space for ; 

 the display of specimens ; but is already full, and 

 proves how rapidly any such collections grow, when 

 once commenced. The distance, however, shuts it out 

 from ready access for reference by the merchant, the 

 broker, manufacturer, or cultivator. Moreover, the 

 strictly scientific classification into botanical groups, 

 families, and orders, renders it difficult for any but a 

 well-informed botanist to find out and compare plants 

 and products of a similar character. Thus, any one 

 iaterested specially in gums, fibres, woods, or food- 

 products has to wander over very many rooms and 

 examine scrupulously dozens of cases to obtain the in- 

 formation he is in search of. 



Another diversified trade collection has been formed 

 by the Crystal Palace Company in one of the upper 

 galleries of the building at Sydenham. But the visit n-s 

 seem to be totally unaware of it, and its isolation and 

 remoteness draw few to the inspection. 



The East India Company's new Museum is another 

 step in the same useful direction. The Directors have 

 collected from the length and breadth of their vast terri- 

 tories samples of everything that is commercially use- 

 ful, whether of merely local use in the East or forming 

 articles of trade. And certainly, amid the glitter and 

 gorgeous splendour of Eastern jewellery shown, the 

 raw products in the galleries form by far the most 

 important feature for careful study and inspection. 



The Royal Agricultural Society of England has 

 taken no step towards forming any collection of agri- 

 cultural produce, indigenous or foreign. In this it is 

 at least behind the French, American, and other similar 

 societies. The cultivation, manufacture, and prepa- 

 ration of the ingredients for our daily bread are among 

 the most important investigations whicli can occupy 

 attention. 



The interest which may be given to a scientific 

 investigation of the most ordinary matters of every- 



day life is shown by the popular disquisitions into 

 the " Chemistry of Common Life," by the late Pro- 

 fessor Johnston. A consideration of this matter has 

 doubtless induced Dr. Lyon Playfair to add a food 

 department to the trade gallery of the South Kensing- 

 ton Museum, which already, under his indefatigable 

 scientific supervision, has grown to vesy respectable 

 proportions, and bids fair, as a whole, to form one of 

 the most interesting and nationally useful features of 

 that branch of the Science and Art department. It will 

 form a model well deserving imitation in the provinces 

 and in other countries. The arrangement and classi- 

 fication adopted are, first the collection and display of 

 the principal articles of animal food as far as these can 

 be shown ; next the cereals, including all the leading 

 varieties grown here or elsewhere, and the products 

 obtained from them. The collection is particularly 

 interesting in the samples of maize, mil'-ets, rice, and 

 other grains, not much seen in this country. There 

 is also a very large and fine collection of leguminous 

 grains and pulse, including the chief varieties of lentils 

 and lupins, chick peas, and so on. The root^, tubers, 

 and bulbs, botanically arranged, follow next in order, 

 succeeded by the vegetables of which the stalk, leaves, or 

 top are eaten. We then pass on to the fruits cultivated 

 in this country or imported, and the fruit products. 

 Another group is devoted to the esculent flowerless 

 plant?, a division of which too little is known; 

 such as the mushroom tribe, lichens, and algss, very 

 many of which serve as portions of food in difierent 

 countries. The sugars, starches, gums, and vegetable 

 extracts, form another very important division, full of 

 instructive infurmutiou by means of descriptive labels 

 and printed particulars, although several of these are 

 only yet in the course of arrangement. The vegetable 

 fats and oils, essential or solid, used in confi ctionary 

 and for alimentary purposes, come next, and are fol- 

 lowed by a fine collection of condiments, spices, and 

 aromatic flavouring herbs. The substances used for 

 making warm infusions or beverages follow, and 

 are illustrated by diagrams of the plants producing 

 them, by all the commercial varieties, and by chemical 

 analyses. A curious feature in the collection is the 

 various narcotics, masticatories, and intoxicating drugs 

 used in difierent countries, showing the depraved taste 

 for stimulants, which, in one form or other, seems 

 universally to prevail. And, lastly, we have the dif- 

 ferent fermented liquors— the beers, the brandies, the 

 wines, and other prepared drinks. 



One of the most important features for study in the 

 food section is the chemical analysis of each particular 

 article, whether grain, pulse, root, or leaf, used for 

 dietetic purposes. Those even who have no general 

 knowledge of chemistry can here gain a popular and 

 correct idea of the nutritious and useful parts of food, 



