1S 
Tire Herparia 
In addition to the collection of books and periodicals in the h- 
brary, and of labeled plants on the grounds and in the conserva- 
tories, the Botanic Garden also has another important reference 
collection—the dried plant specimens, carefully mounted and 
labeled, which are housed in fireproof steel cases. No botanic gar- 
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den is complete without these preserved plants, for it is with their 
aid that identification and comparison of plants is accurately ac- 
complished. They are essential to the proper installation and 
maintenance of plants in the gardens, and are frequently consulted 
by the staff members and visitors engaged in special investigations. 
Specimens are also loaned to botanists in other institutions for 
study, and similar courtesies of loan are extended to the investi- 
gators at the Botanic Garden. 
The Herbarium of the higher plants was administered by the 
staff of the Department of Plants until 1934, when a separate 
Department was organized, and Dr. H. K. Svenson appointed 
— 
Curator of the Herbarium. The care of the Herbarium of t 
lower plants was a part of the function of Dr. E. W. Olive, Curator 
of Public Instruction. Following the establishment of the De- 
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partment of Pathology in January, 1921, the Fungous Herbarium 
has been administered by Dr. George M. Reed, Curator of 
Pathology. 
The collection of flowering plants contains over 200,000 sheets, 
including a fine group of cultivated species and varieties. Speci- 
mens received from the Brooklyn Museum and from the Long 
Island Historical Society were the foundation for the collection, 
which has been constantly enriched by purchase, by exchange, 
and by gifts from universities and individuals. 
Stress has been laid on the collection of plants of Long Island, 
that is, the local flora, and many specimens have been added to 
the herbarium during the past thirty years. One of the early 
American collections, 1815-1840, of which the Garden 1s fortunate 
in possessing several, was made by Mr. Stephen Calverley, a 
former Brooklyn resident. 
A valuable collection of specimens from Manhattan, Long 
Island, and New Jersey, made by Professor John Torrey in 1816, 
