Julyw, 1872] 



NATURE 



211 



MR. AYR TON AND DR. HOOKER 



THE comments which have been made by several 

 London journals upon the circumstances referred 

 to in the subjoined memorial, seem, in the interest oi all 

 persons concerned, to render its publication in its entirety 

 desirable. We cannot doubt that an) delay which has 

 occurred, or may occur, in the delivery of a reply to tlie 

 memoriahsts, is due to the desire of the Prime JMmister to 

 deal with the important question at issue in a manner 

 which, while it is not inconsistent with the interests of the 

 public service, is not incompatilile with a due regard for 

 the interests of Science, and for fair deahng towards a 

 very eminent scientific man. 



To THE Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 



First Lord of the Treasury, iS-'c &=€. 



We, the undersigned, deeply interested in the condition of 

 English science, and viewing with special concern the treatment 

 which the eminent Director of the botanical establishment at Kew 

 has systematically received at llic hands of Mr. Ayrton since his 

 appointment to the office of First Commissioner of Works, do 

 most respectfully beg your attention to tlie following statements 

 and observations. ■" 



In thi year 184.0 the private Botanic Gardens of Kew, vi/hich 

 had previously been in the possession of the Royal Family, were 

 handed over by the Queen to the Government. 



A commission then appointed to report on their condition re- 

 commended that they should be enlarged and inainta-.ncd as a 

 national scientific esiablishment, which should loim a ceiUre of 

 reception for the useful products of the vegetable kingdom, a 

 centre of reference and distiibution for England, India, and tlie 

 colonies, and a means of augmenting the rational pleasure, in- 

 creasing the knowledge, and refining the taste of tlie English 

 public. 



The late Sir William Hooker was at that time Prof, of Eotany 

 in the University of Glasgow. The founding of anestablisliment 

 like that contemplated is. Kew harmonised so completely with 

 his scientific tastes and power of organisation, tliat, at a sacrifice 

 of more than half his income, he oticred to undertake the super- 

 intendence of Kew Gardens. His offer was accepted, and he 

 was appointed Director of Kew, at a salary of 300/. a year. 



Sir William Hooker was at that time the possessor of an ex- 

 cellent private herbarium and of a scientific library, bolh of which 

 were wanting at Kew. To provide house-room for these an 

 additional 200/. was granted by the Government. No allowance, 

 however, was made lor the maintenance or increase of either the 

 herbarium or the library. The expense of both fell upon the 

 director. 



During his residence in Glasgow, the excellence of his collec- 

 tions had attracted to the house of Sir William Hooker various 

 active investigators, the number of which increased materially 

 after his arrival at Kew. Fourteen rooms of the house he occu- 

 pied were devoted to his lierbarium, which for twelve years iNas 

 the resort of the scientific botanists of Europe. Unaided by the 

 Government, save to the extent above mentioned. Sir William 

 Hooker devoted his private means to the purchase of new books 

 and specimens, and opened a correspondence with botanists of 

 all lands. He thus made his house the most extensive botanical 

 laboratory in this country, and the most important centre of 

 reference regarding systematic, economic, and descriptive botany, 

 as illustrated by his herbarium. 



The gardens expanded equally under his vigorous and en- 

 lightened supervision ; in ten years after his appointment they 

 became the hrst in the world. 



For twenty-five years he had been collecting textile fabrics, 

 drugs, gums, dyes, and other products to illustrate the structure, 

 uses, and physiognomy of planis. With these coUecUons, made 

 at his private cost, Su- William Hooker founded in Kew Gardens 

 the first museum of the kind that had ever been established. 

 Of such museums there are now three at Kew. They contain 

 upwards of 50,000 named objects of scientific and economic 

 interest, views uf tropical vegetation, and maps illustrating the 

 distribution of plants over the globe. These museums constitute 

 concrete courses of instruction, unrivalled in concentration and 

 completeness ; and the public interest in them is proved by the 

 number of persons who avail themselves of the stores of informa- 

 tion thus provided. 

 The contributions of Sir William Hooker to these museums 



were his free gift to the country, for which he never received a 

 fartliing of remuneration. 



In 1852 the director's salary, which had previously been raised 

 to 600/. a year, was augmented to Soo/., together with a house 

 which had become vacant at the time. The herbarium was then 

 lodged in a separate building, and immediately afterwards dona- 

 tions and legacies (some to the director, some to the Government 

 of the day) poured into it. The labour of naming the collections 

 of expeditions, and of drawing up botanical reports, became at 

 length so excessive that the public need of the herbarium was 

 still further recognised by the Government. The director had 

 previously borne the expense both of assistance and maintenance ; 

 of these he was now relieved, though he still continued to bear 

 the cost of books for his library and of new specimens of plants. 

 Without this personal devotion on the part of the director, the 

 development of Kew would have been a simple impossibility. 

 For five-and-twenty years his purchases Averemade and his collec- 

 tions elaborated at his own expense and risk, though they were 

 constantly employed in the work of the country. Before his 

 death, knowing tliat his son could not afford to be as regardless 

 of pecuniary considerations as he had been himself, he gave direc- 

 tions to have his herbarium valued by competent persons and 

 offered to the Government at the lowest valuation. On these 

 terms the collections which had previously been devoted to the 

 nation's use became the properly of the nation itself. 



This is a brief but sufficient statement of the relationship of 

 Sir William Hooker to Kew Gardens, It shows him to have 

 been their virtual creator. 



The antecedents and achievements of the' present Director of 

 Kew may be thus sketched. In 1S39 Dr. Joseph Hooker was 

 appointed Assistant-Surgeon and Naturalist to the Antarctic 

 Expedition, the most perilous, perhaps, that ever sailed from 

 these shores, and the scientific results of which exceeded in im- 

 portance those of any other naval exploring expedition of this 

 century. During this voyage Dr. Hooker received from the 

 Government the pay of his rank as a medical officer. His outfit, 

 his books, his instruments, were provided by his father. The 

 expenses of travelling and collecting ashore during his foui years' 

 voyage of circumnavigation were defrayed from the same source, 

 though this work was done w-ith the express object of enriching 

 a public establishment. 



On his return, he waved his claim to promotion in the navy, 

 and devoted four additional years to the classification and publi- 

 cation of the results of the voyage. He also aided his father as 

 an unpaid volunteer in the development of the scientific branches 

 of the Kew establishment. 



In 1847 Dr. Hooker was sent to India, to explore, in the 

 interests of Kew, an unknown region of the Himalaya ; and he 

 was directed to proceed subsequently to Borneo, to report on its 

 vegetable resources. His outfit, both for India and Borneo, 

 which embraced a large collection of expensive instruments, cost 

 the Government nothing. To cover all expenses incidental to 

 his three years' travelling and coUectmg, including the cost of 

 assistants and specimens, a sum of 1,200/. was received, while 

 the real disbursements of Dr. Hoolcer anting this time amounted 

 to 2,200/. The difference was contributed by Sir William 

 Hooker and his son, in the interest of the establishment to which 

 they had consecrated their best energies. 



On his return from India, Dr. Hooker again devoted himself 

 to the work of aiding his father in the scientific development of 

 Kew. He was also employed by the Admiralty, during the nine 

 years from 1S51 to 1S60, in publishing the botanical discoveries 

 of various naval and other voyages, from Captain Cook'.s down- 

 wards, to parts of the world visited by Dr. Hooker himself. For 

 this service he received three years' pay as a medical officer in the 

 Navy, together with a sum of 500/., whicli was accompanied by 

 " the expression of their Lordships' approbation of the zeal, 

 perseverance, and scientific ability displayed in bringing to a 

 successfid completion this great botanical work." For three 

 years he was occupied with the arrangement and distribution of 

 his Indian collections, and with the publication of his journals. 

 To cover the expenses incidental to these labours, an aQowance 

 of 400/. a year was granted by the Government. 



Besides the voyages and travels above adverted to. Dr. Hooker 

 has made journeys to various parts of Europe, to Western Asia, 

 and to North Africa. The expenses of these journeys, though 

 they were made with the express object of adding to the interest 

 and completeness of Kew, have been borne by himself, and the 

 results given to the establislimcnt of which he is director. 



We place these data before you, not with a view of founding 

 on them either censure or complaint . The labours of Dr, Hooker, 



