36 
as soon as we come into possession of our own building, a sum 
of from $5,000 to $10,000 will be urgently needed for the library. 
The librarian reports that during the year 285 bound and 
over 1270 unbound volumes and pamphlets have been received 
by gift, purchase, and exchange. Thirty-two (32) periodicals are 
now being regularly received by subscription, gift, and ex- 
change. 
The Herbarium 
While it is the present intention of the Garden to lay special 
emphasis upon other phases of botanical science than taxonomy, 
nevertheless, it is a self-evident fact that large collections of 
living plants cannot be properly installed and administered in- 
dependently of a herbarium. Such a herbarium must be de- 
veloped with primary reference to the various exhibits of living 
plants and the botanical investigations and teaching undertaken 
at the Garden, and will therefore include specimens of plants 
cultivated at the Garden, as well as of those growing locally and 
elsewhere without cultivation. 
While no special effort has yet been put forth on the her- 
barium, it may be noted that several hundred specimens have 
been collected within the borders of the Garden, and one thou- 
sand specimens have been presented by Dr. E. W. Olive. In 
addition to this, two thousand nine hundred (2,900) specimens 
of parasitic fungi have been acquired by purchase, making a total 
of over four thousand (4,000) additions to the herbarium dur- 
ing I9QI2. 
Investigations 
In the first annual report of the director, emphasis was laid 
on the value and the necessity of research work in an institution 
like the Garden. By the terms of our agreement with the City 
of New York, the Garden is organized for both the advance- 
ment and the diffusion of botanical knowledge, and this double 
nature of our aims and interests must be continuously kept in 
view. If the members of our staff were not engaged in re- 
search, they would become mere handers-on of second-hand 
knowledge, and all of our instruction would lack that vitality, 
and enthusiasm, and note of authority, which should be its most 
1 ¢ ot ane Lap 
marked CNaTracteristic. 

