44 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



are arranged in groups. Jussieu's work was carried on by De 

 Candolle, who classified according to the natural system all the 

 plants known in his time. But when these eminent men wrote, 

 geology can hardly be said to have existed, and our views of 

 botanical science have been profoundly affected by the discovery 

 of the law of evolution. No one now believes that there have 

 been successive creations in the sixteen geological periods. With 

 plants as with animals it has been a case throughout the world's 

 history of the survival of the fittest. The teaching of botany in 

 England was altered under the regime of Sir W. Thiselton Dyer, 

 a great organiser. Before his time lecturers dwelt on the natural 

 orders and external appearance of plants ; now the German 

 method is followed of studying the cells under the microscope 

 and the physiology of plant life. 



"Anything that would conduce to the welfare of Kew Gardens 

 is of national interest, for it is by far the most important esta- 

 blishment of its kind in the wide world. In the Berlin Gardens 

 they mount their plants on rockeries and group them roughly 

 according to the different mountain systems to which they 

 belong, and this is a very interesting plan. But the Berlin 

 Gardens do not vie in importance with ours, which extend to 

 300 acres and are visited yearly by a million and a half of people. 

 The existence of such a place for study reflects great credit upon 

 our Government, which has not stinted the means of keeping it 

 up. One of its best friends has been Mr. [Joseph] Chamberlain, 

 who when he was in the Government obtained an extra grant, by 

 means of which the great temperate house, one-eighth of a mile 

 long, which had long remained unfinished, was completed. Mr. 

 Chamberlain has always taken the greatest interest in the 

 Gardens, which he used to visit regularly every year. I well 

 remember those appearances of his, and the orchid which he 

 invariably wore in his buttonhole. As you know, he is a great 

 collector, and we often used to exchange plants with him. His 

 collection of orchids at Highbury, Birmingham, is, I believe, 

 worth £25,000. The great value of certain orchids consists in 

 their rarity. As with other things, it is a question of supply and 

 demand, and prices rise when they are sought after by wealthy 

 collectors. The question of beauty is a subsidiary one. As a 

 matter of fact you can buy some of the most beautiful specimens 

 in existence for five shillings. I remember that we had a rare 

 lily that was going to be photographed, but it was eaten up 

 during the night by a cockroach. That cockroach did not know 

 that his supper cost us something like £10." 



BIBLIOGKAPHICAL NOTES. 

 LVa. — Miquel's 'Plants Junghuhnian^.' 



Some MS. notes in the copy of Miquel's unfinished Plantcs 

 JunghuhniancB in the library attached to the National Herbarium 

 supply important corrections to Mr. Dunn's contribution in this 



