NATURAL ni-JTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. Ixv 



and art gallery, and that it should be placed on the most natural 

 site for such a museum — viz,, in the Botanic Gardens. Thus all 

 the municipal interests in natural history would be centralised 

 at one point instead of being divided as would otherwise be the 

 case. He left others to discuss the question whether a zoological 

 museum should be placed in the gardens at all, but he felt it 

 to be specially his duty as Regius Professor in Glasgow to point 

 out the use of a botanical museum. It might be assumed that 

 such a museum should form part of the general museum and 

 art gallery which it seemed probable would be finally fixed in 

 Kelvingrove, and, indeed, there was at present a series of 

 specimens of vegetable iiroducts in the Kelvingrove Museum. 

 But we had before us the precedent of the British Museum. 

 The natural history collections had there been separated from 

 the general museum, and were placed in a separate building at 

 South Kensington with the best possible results both to the 

 public and the sciences. As he did not think any half-hearted 

 scheme would meet with general approval, he would go still 

 further and advocate co-operation with the imiversity. The 

 university possessed a valuable herbarium; it had accumulations 

 of materials for a botanical museum ; and there were also certain 

 duplicate botanical books which would form the basis of a 

 working library. He thought it probable that if a joint scheme 

 were entered upon with the university, these books might be 

 deposited in the Botanic Gardens. If proper buildings were 

 erected, and suitable agreements entered into for their manage- 

 ment and control, he should certainly be willing to place in 

 them all the museum specimens which belonged to him 

 personally, including his collections made in Ceylon, and he 

 would, under suitable conditions, imdertake the arrangement 

 and management of the botanical museum. The kind of building 

 which would meet all requirements of a joint scheme would be 

 of two storeys, and would consist of two wings and a central 

 block. The latter woidd be a lecture-room, in which, as of old, 

 the university lectures would again be given, and also popular 

 evening lectiu-es for the general public. For his own part, he 

 would take an active share in such popular lectures. The ground 

 floor of the building might be devoted to the museum, with 

 entrance from the gardens. The upper storey would accom- 

 modate the herbarium, library, botanical laboratories, etc. 

 He was not at present in a position to state definitely 

 what would be the cost of the undertaking, but it would be a 

 small fraction of the sum which it was intended to devote to 

 the proposed scheme for Kelvingrove. He was convinced that 

 if the Natiu-al History Museum should ever become an accom- 

 plished fact, it would prove by no means the least popular 

 public institution in the city. It was commonly thought that 

 the pursuit of botany was a pleasure for the few and the 



