REPORT OF THE BOTANICAL, WORK COMMITTEE 809 



the Herbarium at the British Museum, so much so that, as a rule, 

 botanists engaged in researches in systematic botany find it profit- 

 able to work at Kew in the first instance, visiting the British 

 Museum subsequently 



History of previous Inquiries. 



A Royal Commission "to inquire into the constitution and 

 government of the British Museum," appointed in 1847-8 and 

 reporting in 1850, put to Mr. Robert Brown, then Keeper of the 

 Department of Botany, questions relating to the desirability of his 

 (botanical) collections being united with a botanic garden such as 

 that at Kew. Mr. Robert Brown was of opinion that such a step 

 was not desirable, basing his opinion on the distance of Kew, on 

 the absence from the gardens of an adequate library, and on the 

 slight advantage to botanic researches carried on in an herbarium of 

 a connection with a botanic garden. 



In 1858, upon the death of Mr. Robert Brown on the 10th of 

 June in that year, the Trustees instituted an inquiry, by means of 

 a sub-committee, as to " whether it may be expedient or otherwise 

 to remove the botanical collection from the Museum, as it presents 

 a case in some degree peculiar." The sub-committee heard the 

 evidence of Sir W. J. Hooker, Dr. J. D. Hooker, and Dr. Lindley 

 in favour of the removal, of Mr. G. Bentham in favour of moving 

 the Banksian Herbarium only, of Professor Owen that the removal 

 of the botanic collections would not be any material disadvantage 

 to the other great natural history collections, and of Dr. Falconer, 

 Sir Charles Lyell, and Professor Henfrey against the removal. 

 The sub-committee, partly influenced by the conflict of opinion 

 among the witnesses, and partly, if not chiefly, by the fact that the 

 herbaria and library at Kew were largely private property and by 

 the want of accommodation there, reported against the removal. 



Towards the end of the same year a memorial signed by nine 

 eminent Zoologists and Botanists was presented to the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer urging upon Her Majesty's Government the 

 recommendation that the whole of the Kew Herbarium, a large 

 portion of which was at that time private property, should become 

 the property of the State, that the Banksian Herbarium and the 

 fossil plants at the British Museum should be transferred to Kew, 

 and that suitable accommodation should be made for the national 

 scientific museum of botany so formed. 



In 1860 a Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed 

 to consider the separation of the Natural History Collections from 

 the rest of the British Museum, incidentally received evidence rela- 

 tive to the removal of the botanical collections to Kew, but in its 

 Report merely points out the relatively small needs of the Keeper 

 of Botany. 



In 1871 the important Commission on Scientific Instruction 

 and the Advancement of Science, generally known as the Devon- 

 shire Commission, was appointed. The fourth Report of the 

 Commission presented in 1874, and dealing with the British 

 Museum as a whole, discusses at length proposals for dealing with 



