LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. 33 



'* The Committee reserve the questions of Catalogues and the 

 departments of the Library and Manuscripts for a future 

 occasion." 



During the entire period during which the collections have 

 been iu the possessiou of the Society, they have been freely con- 

 sulted by botanists and others, whose investigations have been 

 embodied iu various monographs and floras. Certain portions 

 have received closer attention than others, and amongst the 

 memoirs which tend to elucidate the Liunean plants may be 

 mentioned : — 



Dr. T. Anderson's study of the Acanthacese (Journ. Linn. 

 Soc, Bot. vol. vii. pp. 111-118) ; General Munro's work on the 

 Grasses (Journ. Linn. Soc, Bot. vol. vi. pp. 33-55) ; Dr. Schimper 

 on the Mosses (Journ. Linn. Soc, Bot. vol. xi. pp. 246-252); and 

 the younger Hartman's critical observations on the Scandinavian 

 plants (Stockholm ffifvers. Acad. Handl. 1849, pp. 145-193; 

 1851, pp. 211-426). 



The last-named botanist prefaced his account with the most 

 minute account of the herbarium which has appeared, and his 

 remarks were, soon after their publication, translated into 

 German in 'Flora' (1850), pp. 746-748, 752-756, and a fuller 

 account was rendered into English by Dr. Wallich, which came 

 out in Hooker's Kew Journal, iv. (1852) pp. 217-220, 252-254, 

 V. (1853) pp. 25-29. 



The chief portions of the collections are now placed in the 

 Meeting Eoom opposite the windows, the herbarium in its 

 three original green-painted cabinets in which Linnseus kept 

 his plants, as far as possible in the same state as at the death ot 

 the younger Linne. The genera, protected as described on 

 p. 29, with list on the hinges and openings of the Linnean 

 Cabinets, are further enclosed iu glazed, dust-proof cases. 

 Similar cases are employed for the zoological specimens, the 

 drawers containing the Insecta being top-glazed. 



The medical books, duplicates, and rarely-consulted volumes 

 are housed in one of the galleries of the library, but the important 

 volumes ai'e placed on shelves, alongside of the collections. The 

 report of the last Committee showed that special attention had 

 been given to the question of rearranging the Zoological col- 

 lections, so as to exclude obviously later additions, such as the 

 Lepidoptera inserted by Smith, but it was felt that the difficulties 

 in the way of accomplishment were insuperable, and that the 

 whole should be regarded as an historic collection, the value of 

 which would be diminished by any attempt to arrange them in 

 conformity with present ideas. 



The condition of the collections is annually reported upon to 

 the Council by two examiners, whose duty is to search for any 

 signs of dust lodging, want of camphor in the insect-drawers, or 



LINN. SOC. PKOCEKDINGS. SESSTQN 1887-88. d 



