PREFACE. 



The collection of orchids cultivated at Kew is essen- 

 tially different from any, at least in this country, in the 

 possession of a private collector, and perhaps its only 

 serious rival is that of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Glasnevin. Its main object is botanical and to represent 

 the family Orchidece in as comprehensive a way as 

 possible. The scientific interest attaching to orchids is 

 very great. But even as regards form they can only be 

 studied from dried specimens with great difficulty, and 

 as regards their varied and remarkable structural 

 arrangements and the striking mechanical contrivances 

 for cross-fertilisation which they exhibit, they cannot 

 be studied at all in the dried state. While the Kew 

 collection contains representatives of all the most beau- 

 tiful and popular species, it is more particularly rich 

 in others which at first sight are not particularly 

 attractive. Most of these, however, on careful examina- 

 tion will be found to possess no small degree of charm 

 and interest. 



In 188U, Dr. Pfitzer, Professor of Botany in the Uni- 

 versity of Heidelberg, came to Kew to study in the 

 Jodrell Laboratory the Kew collection of orchids for his 

 well-known researches on their morphology and he has 

 continued to draw on it since for further aid. 



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