418 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I November 27, 187S. 



especially as to the origin of some valuable timbers, fibres, and 

 drugs, in order to perfect our knowledge of economic botany; 

 in brief, the museums tell us how little as well as how much, 

 we know ; of the extent of which herbs, shrubs, and trees con- 

 tribute to our necessities, comforts, and numberless require- 

 ments." 



Crowded as these museums are with curious vegetable pro- 

 ductions from roof to floor, we can only notice the more strik- 

 ing and noteworthy of them. As we are nearest the Museum 

 No. 3, which is in fact the old orangery, to be seen immedi- 

 ately on the right hand on entering the gates of the gardens, 

 let us proceed towards it. This museum is chiefly devoted to 

 a collection of specimens of colonial timber, mainly derived 

 from the Exhibition of 18G2. No approach to a scientific 

 classification is attempted with these specimens, as in the other 

 museums ; in fact, many of them are only duplicates of those 

 contained in the arranged collection, but on account of their 

 magnitude were not capable of being included with them. One 

 of the most striking objects which attracts the attention on 

 entering the building is a bowl-like cup worthy to form a goblet 

 for Neptune. It is the receptacle in which the root of the double 

 Cocoa-nut actually grows, in the form of a wooden bowl with 

 a rough picturesque exterior perforated with holes through 

 which the roots of the tree pass. The double Cocoa-nuts 

 themselves, which before their discovery on the Seychelles near 

 Madagascar were found floating about in the Indian Ocean, 

 were considered great rarities, and sold for enormous sums. 

 Another very curious plant in a glass case is Welwitschia 



mirabilis. [For an account and figure of this plant see 

 " JouHNAL OF HoRTicuLTDRK ," vol. xxiii., page 326.] This 

 plant is closely allied to the Pine family, and is certainly one 

 of the most singular-looking products of the vegetable king- 

 dom. It consists of two leaves only, which lie flat upon the 

 ground, extending each for feet. These leaves are said to 

 live the whole life of the plant for one hundred years, and 

 become dried and torn to rags. The flower is a foot across. 

 It was found growing in a hard stony soil in South-west 

 Tropical Africa. 



Another most remarkable plant, or fungus, is close at hand, 

 modelled in wax, the Eafflesia Arnoldi, a parasite which grows 

 upon the stem of some of the Vine order in Sumatra. The 

 flower is the most gigantic in existence, measuring from 3 to 

 6 feet across. It has neither leaves nor stem, and may b& 

 considered a vegetable prodigy. [Eafflesia Arnoldi is not a 

 fungus. It was found in Sumatra by Dr. Arnold, who accom- 

 panied Sir Stamford Eafiles to that island, and the generic 

 name was given by Brown in honour of the latter, the specific 

 name in honour of the former. This singular plant has 

 neither stem nor leaf, only a flower, and grows on the stems of 

 various species of Cissus. We reproduce a representation of 

 it from the ninth volume of our new series, where a detailed 

 account of it will be found on page 10.] The space in this 

 museum is taken up with specimens of colonial timber, morei 

 interesting in a constructive point of view than any other ; 

 but we must not leave its doors without noting the very in- 

 genious method of toy-turning, of wiiich there are specimens 



Lsia Arnoldi, Tvitli bud, growing on tbo stem of a CissTis. 



sent from Saxony. It will be seen that the rough forms of 

 different animals are first turned in a circular piece of wood, 

 and from these segments are cut, and afterwards rounded so 

 as to represent nature. We can, after seeing this rapid method 

 of production, understand how it is that a wholijnenagerie in 

 a Noah's Ark can be purchased for sixpence. To the archse- 

 ologist the relic of Heme's Oak, blown down in Windsor 

 Forest, and presented by the Queen, will prove interesting. 



If we pass over westward we come to Museum No. 1, which 

 is situated at the bottom of the ornamental water facing the 

 Palm stove. This museum is devoted to flower-bearing plants. 

 The examples are contained in cases in which the orders and 

 families are duly noted on the outside. The orders are ranged 

 in different floors. It would be tedious to dwell upon these 

 specimens which, however, are highly instructive to the scien- 

 tific inquirer. On the ground floor are some very curious ex- 

 amples of the use of the different English woods, and under 

 the Willow order are specimens of the ancient Exchequer 

 taDies. Up to the year 1830 the accounts of the Exchequer 

 ■were kept by means of these tallies, which were made of 

 Willow or Poplar wood. The amount of money they repre- 

 presented was noted on them by means of notches cut in the 

 Bide of the flat tally. These were easily split, and the counter 

 tally served as a check upon the original one. Such is the life 

 in old customs in England, that were it not that the accidental 

 firing of one of these bundles of tallies set fire to the old House 

 of Commons it is quite possible that the tally system might 

 still have been in vogue. Among the curious examples of old 

 Oak, showing the power of this wood to resist change, may be 

 mentioned a portion of a pile of old London Bridge, taken up 

 in 1827, which must have been in use 650 years, and yet seems 



as sound as the day it was put down. Some of the bog Oako 

 are also very curious ; and a portion of the " Maria Rose," 

 lost at Spithead in the reign of Henry VIH. , is stiU perfectly 

 good. 



Museum No. 2 is at the bottom of the herbaceous garden, 

 and is appropriated to specimens of the products of those 

 plants which are commonly regarded as not bearing flowers, 

 such as Mosses, Ferns, Sea-weeds, Lichens, and Mushrooms. 

 There are only two floors to this museum. In the rooms oJ 

 the ground floor are many curious specimens which are inter- 

 esting. Let us note ivory nuts from the Vegetable Ivory Palm, 

 with specimens of chessmen and other ornaments eut out of 

 the ivory ; the method of carrying tea in Paraguay in the skin 

 of the great ant-eater ; specimens of wood stained green by 

 Peziza a?ruginosa, and used for the manufacture of Tunbridge- 

 ware. Here also we may see specimens of the Gulf-weed, 

 which forms such immense masses in the eddy of the Atlantic 

 to the west of the Azores, as to offer impediments to the na- 

 vigation of vessels. 



It may be asked how Kew Garden has fulfilled the scheme 

 of such a natural garden as was foreshadowed by the late Dr. 

 Lindley ? what imperial purposes has it served ? what has it 

 done towards proving itself a nursing mother to our colonial 

 possessions ? This is a very important question, and we think 

 the Director can with pride reply. From these Gardens have 

 issued the Cinchona plants which are now clothing the hiUs 

 of India, and from the produce of which quinine is now largely 

 manufactured in the Nilghiri mountains, and in the Sikkim 

 Himalaya. The importance of the introduction of this life- 

 giving drug to the holders of India, and to all fever-stricken 

 populations, cannot be exaggerated. The cultivation of Ipeca- 



