[Vol. 2 



208 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



"So sits enthroned, in vegetable pride, 

 Imperial Kew by Thames' glittering side ; 

 Obedient sails from realms unfurrow'd bring 

 For her the unnam'd progeny of Spring ; 

 Attendant Nymphs her dulcet mandates hear. 

 And nurse in fostering arms the tender year ; 

 Plant the young bulb, inhume the living seed, 

 Prop the weak stem, the erring tendril lead; 

 Or fan in glass-built fanes the stranger flowers, 

 With milder gales, and steep with warmer showers. 

 Delighted Thames through tropic umbrage glides. 

 And flowers antarctic, bending o'er his tides; 

 Drinks the new tints, the sweets unknown inhales, 

 And calls the sons of Science to his vales." 



George III and Sir Joseph Banks both died in 1820, and 

 for some twenty years the Eoyal Gardens gradually fell into 

 a condition of sad neglect. In the early years of the reign of 

 Queen Victoria, however, the Eoyal Gardens were restored to 

 their proper position as the National Botanical Garden, 

 thanks to the devoted labors of the committee of which John 

 Lindley and Sir Joseph Paxton were the distinguished mem- 

 bers, and Sir William Hooker was appointed Director of the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens in 1841. Thence onwards, under Sir 

 Joseph Hooker, and Sir William Thiselton-Dyer, the history 

 of Kew has been one of steady progress and usefulness and 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens have played a prominent part in 

 connection with all matters of botanical enterprise in the 

 British Colonies.^ 



' The establishment at Kew comprises : I. The Botanic Gardens and Arbo- 

 retum (288 acres) ; II. The Herbarium and Library; III. The Museums devoted 

 to (i and ii) dicotyledons and monocotyledons and their economic products, (iii) 

 exotic timbers and conifers, (iv) British forestry, and (v) The North Gallery 

 of paintings by Miss Marianne North; IV. The Jodrell Laboratory for scientific 

 research; V. The Pathological Laboratory; VI. Director's Office. 



The more important books dealing with the history of Kew and its collec- 

 tions are: 



1. Aiton, W. Hortus Kewensis, 3 vols. London, 1789. 



2. Aiton, W. T. Hortus Kewensis, 5 vols. London, 1810-13. [2nd ed.] 



3. Scheer, F. Kew and its Gardens. Richmond. 1840. 



4. Historical account of Kew to 1841. Kew Bull. Msc. Inf. 1891:279-327. 



1891. 



5. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Reports on progress and condition. 1855-1882. 



6. Perrfides, P. ]5. F. London Botanic Gardens. Wellcome Research Labora- 



tories, London, Publ. 62: 17-40. 1906. 



7. Bean, W. J. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. London, 1908. 



8. Popular Official Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew, 1912. 



9. Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. 1887- 



10. Kew Plant Lists and j\Iusr\ira Guides. 



11. Smith, J. Records of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. London, 1880. 



