394 



usual way to the Office of Works. The First Ct.inmissioner (now 

 Lord Gladstone) approved the proposal, and caused an estimate 

 for the erection of the South AVing to be included in the next 

 year's estimates and submitted to the Treasury. It was agreed 

 to in principle, but at the last moment the item was struck out by 

 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Office of Woiks informed 

 me accordingly- I did not regard this as an abandonment. of the 

 project, but only a temporary postponement such as is not in- 

 frequent on financial grounds in official work, even in cases of 

 necessity. Nor did I make any appeal to Mr. Chamberlain : that 

 would have been quite irregular in a matter irt the hands of a 

 Minister of the Crown, Mr. Chamberlain acted independently and 

 happening to dine at the House of Commons with the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer induced him to reverse his decision. The Eirst 

 Commissioner was dining at another table, and Sir William 

 Harcourt authorised him verbally to liave the work proceeded 

 with at once. A supplomentarj- estimate supplied the necessary 

 funds.'' 



Kew and the War. — Since the publication of the figures giving 

 the number of the members of the Kew staff serving with His 

 Majesty's forces on land and sea, seventeen more men have volun- 

 teered their services or have been summoned as members of the 

 National Heserve. 



Three National Reservists, belonging to the uniformed section, 

 have been called out, six ex-soldiers, throe being from the 

 uniformed section and three from the labour force, have rejoined 

 the ranks, and ten young gardeners and the packer have enlisted 

 eitlier in the New Army, the Territorial Force or the Naval 

 Heserve. 



The total number of men from the Hoval Botanic Gardens now 

 servin"^ with the forces is thus sixtv^-six. 



*^' 



Botanical Magazine for December. — The plants figured are 



Clematis Arniandiy Franch. (t. 8587); Pleione pogonioides, Rolfe 

 (t. 8588); Crataegus fuhescens, Steud., forma stipidacca, Stapf 

 (t. 8589) ; ASfz/ria longisfyla, Benth. (t. 8590), and Ceratostigma 

 \WillmoUianum^ Stapf (t. 8591). 



The volume for the year which concludes vrith this iiumber of 

 the Botanical Magazine is dedicated — '' To Professor Henry 

 Harold Welch Pearson, M.A., Sc.D., F.L.S. Harry Bolus Pro- 

 fessor of Betany, Cape Town, and Director of the National Botanic 

 Garden of Souih Africa, as successful in his leadership of 



l>otanical expeditions as he has been g-^nerous in distributinj; their 

 fruits.'^ ^ 



The Clematis is a vigorous and handsome species for the intro- 

 duction of which w(^ are indel^ted to Messrs. James Yeitch & Sons 

 through their collector, Mr. E. H. Wilson. It is rather widely 

 distributed in China, occurring in Hupeh, Szechuan and Yunnan, 

 at altitudes ranging up to 5500 ft. above sea4evel. Two forms are 

 in cultivation, and the finer of these is the subject of the illustra- 

 tion, which was prepared from material supplied from the garden 



