38o NATURAL SCIENCE. Nov.. 



must be a matter of supreme satisfaction to its compiler, and in con- 

 gratulating Mr. Jackson, one congratulates also the botanical world 

 on the immense labour saved to them in having the " Index " for 

 reference. 



While, however, giving Mr. Jackson the lion's share of the credit 

 for this work, he himself would certainly be the last man to ignore the 

 help of others. To the enthusiastic little band of clerks (despite the 

 fact that they were paid for their work) a large amount of thanks are 

 also due ; while of his other helpers Sir Joseph Hooker has read the 

 whole of the proofs and annotated and corrected the MS. a? only one 

 of his large experience could do. From the Kew authorities and from 

 the staff of the British Museum (who have been supplied with proofs), 

 Mr. Jackson has received invaluable assistance, and the same may be 

 said of officials of the numerous public Herbaria, and many private 

 collectors. 



It is, perhaps, not too much to say that it is only in London that 

 so gigantic a task could be successfully terminated in so comparatively 

 short a time. The libraries at Kew, the collections at the British 

 Museum, Bloomsbury (where are stored the books of Sir Joseph 

 Banks), and the still more complete library of the Natural History 

 Museum, present a series of botanical books equalled by no other 

 city in the world ; and these have all been fully drawn upon. Further, 

 there are the collections of the Linnean and the Royal Societies, besides 

 the rich stores of volumes in the hands of private individuals, all of 

 which have been placed unreservedly at Mr. Jackson's disposal. 



As a commencement of work, the generic names from Bentham 

 and Hooker's " Genera Plantarum," were arranged in alphabetical 

 order, and the names in Steudel's " Nomenclator," intercalated; each 

 genus was placed in a separate wrapper, and housed in boxes with a 

 fall-down front, so as to allow of easy reference and insertion of any 

 new names that were indexed by the workers. These boxes of MS. 

 ultimately reached the number of i68, and were arranged in pigeon 

 holes. 



The " Index " includes all names of flowering plants and ferns 

 from 1735, the first edition of Linnaeus's " Systema Naturae," down to 

 the end of 1885, ^^^ ^^^ estimated number of entries reaches 500,000. 



The following are examples of Mr. Jackson's entries : — 



Acnida rusocarpa, Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. ii. 234. t. 50. — Am. bor. 



Beesha capitata, Munro, in Trans. Linn, Soc. xxvi. (1868) 145. — 

 Madag. 



Cypenis leptostachys, Vahl, ex Kunth, Enum. PL ii. g3 = distans. 



Printing began in the autumn of 1891, and has now reached the 

 letter K, but owing to the extreme care bestowed on the proofs, it has 

 only been possible to issue the first part at present. The book will 

 be completed in four parts, and it is anticipated that the whole will be 

 issued to the public by the end of 1894. One thousand copies will be 

 published at a price of eight guineas nett (two guineas each part). It 



