Sd ten cement 
REPORT OF THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT BOTANIST. 203 
on the native vegetation, to arrange for occasional Saturday afternoon 
excursions of students and amateurs to botanically-interesting spots in 
the vieinity of the city. 
Whatever may be the decision in reference to the organization of 
the general Industrial Museum in the city, there should certainly be 
spacious room in the Garden available as a store for objects of leading 
plants of different parts of the globe. Such vegetable objects, like 
those in Sir William Hooker's great institution of Kew, could not be 
more advantageously studied than in connection with the living plants 
of the Garden or conservatories. 
The timber, fibres, resins, gums, dyes, paper materials, drugs, oils, 
alkalies, and many chemical eduets from plants of Australia could be 
contrasted with similar products of other countries; the processes of 
manufacture and their technological and commercial value be demon- 
strated ; while subjects relating to culture of any kind could be eluci- 
dated, diseases of plants by objects and drawings illustrated, and many 
other kindred inquiries drawn into vitality of practical application. 
Thus I may instance that it seems not generally known how our com- 
mon Eucalyptus leaves, under Ramel's process, can be converted into 
cigars, or how the same leaves serve as a remedy in intermittent fever. 
I herewith beg to submit the fourth volume of the work on all Aus- 
tralian plants, elaborated, under my aid, by the President of the Lin- 
nean Society. This volume brings the number of species already de- 
scribed to nearly 5000. For the fifth volume, which is to embrace 
mainly the Monochlamydee, the whole material in our Museum has 
been preliminarily prepared. Hitherto, precisely fifty large cases of 
museum plants, in 922 large fascicles, with notes, have been transmitted 
on loan to Kew for the elaboration of this work, the collections here 
accumulated, or furnished originally from hence, being more extensive 
than the united former Herbaria of Australian plants in Britain. 
We may reflect, not without pride, on the fact, that a similar de- 
'Scriptive work exists not even yet for the vegetation of Europe, and 
we may also remember that, without a work of this kind, the confused 
Vernacular appellations, and any medicinal, technological, cultural, or 
other observations on the native plants, could not be reduced to a solid 
Scientific basis. R. Brown's celebrated * Prodromus,' issued in 1810, 
comprised only about oue-third of the Australian plants then known, 
and even the Orders elaborated in his volume have been augmented by 
VOL. vit. [suLY 1, 1869.] _ y 
