Origin of the Museums. 



The foundation and progress of these collections, not 

 only by far the most extensive in existence, but the first 

 of their kind established, may be briefly traced since the 

 conception of their plan by the first Director of the Royal 

 Gardens, Sir W. J. Hooker. 



In 1847 the building now occupied by Museum No. II.,. 

 which up to that year had been in use as a fruit store- 

 house, &c., was added, by command of Her Majesty, to the 

 Botanic Garden proper. Permission was immediately 

 sought by the Director to have one room of this building 

 fitted up with suitable cases for the exhibition of 

 vegetable products, — objects which neither the living 

 plants of the Garden nor the preserved specimens of the 

 Herbarium could show. Sir W. J. Hooker's request was 

 liberally met by the Chief Commissioner of Her Majesty '& 

 Woods and Forests, and the Museum was forthwith com- 

 menced ; its nucleus consisting of the Director's private 

 collection, presented by himself. 



No sooner was the establishment and aim of the Museum 

 generally made known than contributions to it poured in 

 from all quarters of the globe, until, in a few years, the 

 ten rooms of the building, with its passages and corners,, 

 were absolutely crammed with specimens. Its apprecia- 

 tion by the public being thus demonstrated, application 

 was made to Parliament for a grant to defray the expense 

 of an additional building for the proper accommodation 

 of the objects, and the house occupied by Museum No. I., 

 opened to the public in the spring of 1857, is the result. 



In 1881 the extension of Museum No. I. on the west 

 side, containing a new and commodious staircase, was 

 erected at a cost of £2,000, met by a grant from the India 

 Office, in order to supply the additional accommodation 

 required from the Indian collections mentioned below. 



From the Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, and from the 

 Paris Exhibitions of 1855 and 1867, large additions were 

 made to the Museums, both by the presentation of 

 specimens, and also by their purchase, aided by grants 

 from the Treasury and Board of Trade. Many eminent 

 firms engaged in the importation and manufacture of 

 vegetable substances, have most liberally contributed 



