.' 



45 



VIL-MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



Visitors during 1907.— The number of persons who visited the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens during the year 1907 was 2,962,714. 

 These figures represent an increase of 623,222 visitors over the 

 year 1906, when the numbers were 2,339,492 and up to that time 

 had established a record. The total number on Sundays was 

 1,268,501, and on weekdays 1,694,213. The corresponding 

 numbers for 1906 were 867,148 and 1,472,344 respectively. The 



attendance on any one day was 92,277 on August 5th, 

 over 20,000 less than on the corresponding day in 1906, when the 

 attendance was a record one for a single day. The smallest 

 number on any one day was 168 on April 26th. 



The detailed monthly returns are given below ; 



•j nil ufti*y •♦* ••• *«• •♦• ••* 



maximum 



February 



March 



April 



May 

 June 



July 

 August 



September 

 October ... 

 November 

 December... 



• • • 



• • * ••• • * • 



• • • • • • • • • • • ■ • • • 



• •• ••• » • . 



. • • 



• •• »•♦ » . . 



•♦# ••- •» 



39,685 

 46,845 

 219,498 

 186,092 

 406,867 

 347,709 

 473,309 



553,814 



485,201 



115,735 



49,154 



38,805 



2,962,714 



The Rev. Richard Baron. — The Rev. Richard Baron, F.L.S., 

 F.G.S., who died suddenly from heart failure on October 12th, 

 1907, was well-known both to botanists and geologists. He 

 was born at Kendal on the 8th of September, 1847, and was 

 educated at a local school and afterwards at Owens College. He 

 went out to Madagascar first in 1872, under the London Missionary 

 Society's auspices. He remained working as a missionary in 

 Madagascar for 35 years, with occasional furloughs to England. 

 Mr. Baron learnt languages with great facility and was soon able 



Malagasy 



Malagasy 



on geology and botany, his French exercises, his biblical com- 



men tar 



Hymnal will long remain witnesses to his varied activity. During 

 his 35 -years Madagascar changed greatly and passed from Hova 

 to French dominion. The Hovas pursued a policy of isolation. 

 King Radama used to say that his best generals were "General 

 Fever and General Forest," and when Mr. Baron prepared a small 

 handbook of elementary chemistry he was refused leave by the 

 then Prime Minister to publish it, unless he would omit all 

 mention of the metals. The road between Tamatave, the chief 

 port, and Antananarivo, the capital of the Island, which in Hova 



times took a fortnight to traverse, now takes a couple of days, and 



