REPOKT ON THE KOYAL GARDENS AT KEW. I9i 
been : — 1. The collection of specimens, drawings, and MSS. of Carices, 
of the late Dr. Francis Boott, F.L.S., formerly Treasurer of the Lin- 
naean Society ; presented by his widow. It is impossible to over- 
estimate the value of this gift. Dr. Boott devoted the greater part of 
his life to the study of this particular and very difficult tribe of plants ; 
he formed a complete and beautifully arranged and named collection 
of the species from all parts of the world; and was for 30 years the 
standard authority for their nomenclature. At his own expense he 
caused to be prepared in Paris and London a superb series of folio 
drawings of all the species, of which upwards of 400 were published, 
with descriptions in three volumes, and privately distributed, also at 
his own expense. The entire number of drawings amounts to upwards 
of 700. 2. The Herbarium and MSS. of the late Dr. P. B. Ayres, 
colonial surgeon of Mauritius : presented by his widow. Dr. Ayres 
spent upwards of ten years in the Mauritius, during which time the 
whole of his leisure was employed in exploring its botany, and de- 
scribing the plants for a Flora which he intended to publish. This 
Herbarium, which is a very considerable one^ together with the MSS., 
will prove of great use in the event of a Flora of Mauritius being pub- 
lished, which is in contemplation by the Colonial Government. 
The most extensive and valuable of the other contributions have 
been : — 1. European P^aw/*.— Spain, M. Bourgeau ; Hungary, Colonel 
Victor de Janlea ; Dauphine, Professor Oliver and IMr. Hanbury ; Feroe 
Islands, Sir W. C, Trevelyan, Bart. ; Portugal, Dr. Welwitsch ; Spitz- 
bergen, W. W. Wagstaffe, Esq. ; Eastern Lapland, Felleman ; various, 
Eev. W. A. Leighton. 2. Asiatic Plants. — Syria, Dr. Kotschy, Miss 
Osburn, Mrs. Wynne, Mr. B. T, Lowne, Professor Ehrcnberg (Berlin 
Herbarium) ; Peninsula of India, Dr. Wi_ 
Stewart ; Sikkim, Dr. T. Anderson ; Ceylon, Dr. Thwaites, Indian 
Archipelago, Professor IMiquel, of Leyden, and Dr. Anderson, of Cal- 
cutta^ Siam, Sir E. Schomburgt; China, Dr. Hance, Dr. Tate, and 
Captain Eustace Jacob ; Japan and Corea, Mr. Oldham (collector for 
the Royal Gardens) ; Dr. Maingay and E, A^. Dickins, Esq., E.N. 3. 
Australia. —Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart., Dr. F. Mueller; Tasmania, Miss 
Cox ; New Zealand, Dr. Hector, Mr. Buchanan, Dr. Haast, W. L. 
Travers, Esq., and Mr. W. Wakefield ; Chatham Islands, W. L. Tra- 
vers, Esq. ; New Caledonia, Mr. Vieillard, of Vire, the Herbarium of 
the Jardin des Plantes, and the Directors of the Colonial Exposition of 
