58 



NATURE 



[May 21, 1903 



Mr. Moore and fellow-workers in the Royal College of 

 Science, and a curious form of polyzoan, with some 

 prawns and sponges, have been added to the fauna 

 with marine affinities that have made Tanganyika so 

 interesting to naturalists. 



Want of space forbids our entering on a discussion 

 of the theoretical questions dealt with in the work 



Fig. I.— Living asexual aduh of the Tanganyika medusa, enlarged about 

 one-third. To the right is seen a string of buds becoming detached. 



before us. On many of these the last word has not 

 been said, and some of the speculations put forward 

 by the author can be regarded as having only the 

 value of ingenious suggestions. In dealing with so 

 large a mass of new and varied material, the author 

 may have been led in places to express hasty judgments, 



Fig. 2. — Living sexual adult of the Tanganyika medusa, showing the 

 character of the manubrium. 



while some of his statements may need qualification or 

 revision ; but we are convinced that every naturalist 

 who peruses the work will give him the highest credit 

 for a work of exploration efficiently carried out, and 

 for preparing an account of his researches which is 

 not only satisfactory to the student of science, but is 

 full of interest for the general reader. J. W. J. 



NO. I 75 I, VOL. 68] 



ENLARGEMENT OF THE KEW HERBARIUM. 



SIR WILLIAM J. HOOKER, the first director of 

 Kew Gardens, as a public establishment, was 

 really the founder of the herbarium at Kew, for before 

 any bequests or gifts were made, his extensive private 

 collection of dried plants and books was, by arrange- 

 ment with the Government, used for the purposes of 

 the gardens, and accessible to botanists of all coun- 

 tries. When Sir William took up his appointment in 

 1841, there was neither specimen nor book the property 

 of the garden, and his herbarium and library were 

 first deposited in his own residence at West Park. In 

 1853 his herbarium and a portion of his library were 

 lodged in the original portion of the present block of 

 buildings, and he received a small annual grant from 

 Government for assistance and maintenance, on the 

 condition that the plants and books were free to other 

 botanists. The same year Miss Bromfield presented 

 the herbarium and library collected by her deceased 

 brother, W. Arnold Bromfield, the author of the 

 " Flora Vectensis," which was edited after his death 

 bv Sir Joseph Hooker. 



"This gift, though not so extensive as some subse- 

 quent ones, was very valuable, both in plants and 

 books, the latter including a number of excellent copies 

 of the best editions of many of the early authors, or 

 *' old masters." The following year, 1854, Mr. George 

 Bentham presented his very rich herbarium and library 

 to the nation, on the condition that they should be 

 deposited at Kew, and so housed and arranged as to 

 be accessible to himself and other botanists. I 

 may add, parenthetically, that Bentham continued his 

 botanical work at Kew, almost uninterruptedly, for 

 thirty years, the end of which saw the completion of 

 the '"' Genera Plantarum " of Bentham and Hooker, a 

 work which has not yet been replaced by an equally 

 concise and useful synopsis of a uniform character. 

 Sir William Hooker died in 1865, and in 1866 the 

 Government purchased his herbarium and library, so 

 far as they were not already represented in the national 

 collection at Kew. This purchase included museum 

 specimens, drawings, manuscripts, portraits of 

 botanists, and Sir William's botanical correspondence, 

 covering a period of sixty years. As is well known to 

 the older generations. Sir Joseph Hooker succeeded 

 his father in the directorship, and he in turn was suc- 

 ceeded by his son-in-law. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer, 

 the present director. 



Under these successive directors, due greatly to their 

 activity and zeal, the collections of plants and books 

 have continued to increase with great rapidity, partly 

 from increasing Government grants, and partly from 

 private munificence. Among the latter the collections 

 specially deserving mention are : — A. Cunningham's 

 Australasian; Burchell's St. Helena, S. African and 

 S. American; Borrer's British; H. C. Watson's 

 British; Miss Griffith's Algae; Wight and Rottler's 

 Indian; Boott's Carices ; J. Gay's general, presented 

 by Sir Joseph Hooker; Ball's general herbarium and 

 botanical library; Carey's N. American; and quite 

 recently Dr. Alexander Prior's general herbarium, re- 

 ceived through Sir Prior Goldney. 



All these important gifts consist mainly of named 

 and mounted specimens. Smaller donations number 

 many hundreds. The enormous Indian collections 

 of Hooker and Thomson reached Kew in 1851. They 

 were estimated at 8000 species, and the specimens were 

 so numerous that no less than sixty sets were given 

 away to other botanists and botanical establishments. 

 The distribution of these specimens, and seven wagon- 

 loads of specimens (chiefiy of Griffith, Heifer and 

 Falconer's collecting) received from the India House 

 in 1858, was not completed until 1863. 



The rapid growth of the herbarium and library neces- 



