REPORT OF BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT, BRITISH MUSEUM, FOR 1881. 315 



introduced into the cases. It is believed that when the exhibition 

 is completed it will i^resent a self-interpreting view of the dis- 

 tribution and classification of the vegetable kingdom. 



In addition to this work additions have been made to the great 

 Herbarium, especially of plants belonging to the Orders Ranun- 

 culacea, NymphcBacecE, Crucifer(B, Saxifrwjacem, BuhiacecB, CompositcB, 

 Campanula cea, EricacecB, Epacridacem, ConvolruhicecB, BorraginecB, 

 Loranthacece, OrchidacecB, ScitamineiP, CyperacecB, and Graminem. In 

 the course of the work the following orders have been more or less 

 rearranged : — KanimculacecB, Violacece, Composite, BorraginecB, Jiin- 

 cacecB, CommelinacecB, and Cyperacece. 



In the beginning of the year the whole of the cellular plants 

 which had been permanently placed in the rooms of the upper 

 pavilion were removed to the basement, to escape the injury arising 

 from irregular temperature and from smoke and soot. Alterations 

 in the mode of heating having secured the maintenance of a 

 regular temperature and the cure of the other evils, the collections 

 were restored to their permanent position with satisfactory results. 



The collection of seeds and fruits made by Sir Hans Sloane has 

 been incorporated with the general series, and has thus been made 

 accessible to students. 



A careful revision and thorough re-arrangement of the British 

 Herbarium has been made, and several important contributions 

 from British botanists have been received and incorporated, with 

 the view of making this invaluable collection more complete. 



The principal addition to the collections during the year has 

 been the acquisition by purchase of the large and valuable 

 Herbarium of Mosses formed by the late Dr. Hampe, containing 

 about 25,000 specimens ; a large proportion being types of species 

 described by Hampe, Mueller, and other bryologists. This 

 important addition to the Herbarium, which had been already 

 enriched by the purchase of the Mosses and Hepaticce of William 

 Wilson, and the Hepaticcs of Hampe, makes it the most extensive 

 and valuable collection of mosses and their allies in existence. 



A unique and very important Lycopodiaceous cone fi'om the 

 coal-measures of France, beautifully preserved in silex, has been 

 acquired from the representatives of the late Prof. Schimper, 

 together with a fragment of another cone, supplementing a speci- 

 men which had for many years been in the possession of the 

 Trustees. These cones have been the subject of memoirs by 

 Robert Brown, Brongniart, and Schimper, and are of the greatest 

 value from the light they have thrown on the Flora of the 

 Carboniferous period. 



The collections of R. A. Salisbury, presented to the Trustees by 

 the late Dr. J. E. Gray, have been augmented by the addition of a 

 collection of notes and drawings of Ericaceous plants, with 

 fi'agments of the plants ; presented by Sir Joseph D. Hooker. 



There have been also added to the Herbarium a valuable 

 collection of Indian plants, consisting of nearly 3000 species, 

 presented by Charles B. Clarke Esq. ; an important collection of 

 South African plants, consisting of 1024 species, collected and 

 presented by Harry Bolus Esq. ; 426 species of plants from North 



