JULY 21, 1899. ] 
bia, the Gray herbarium at Harvard and 
the National herbarium at Washington are 
any of them far richer in the representation 
of the plants of the United States; yet, con- 
sidered from the standpoint of the world’s 
flora, the collection at Kew is practically 
equal to all others combined in general 
completeness and diversity of representa. 
tion. 
The herbarium was formerly housed in 
another of the royal residences at Kew 
which adjoins Kew Green, and was called 
the house of the King of Hanover, because 
it was once occupied as the residence of that 
prince who succeeded to the throne of Han- 
over as George the Fifth. 
This house for a long period was the sole 
repository of the great collections and 
library of the Kew Garden, but within the 
past few years the present director has ex- 
pended a small appropriation in erecting a 
large three-galleried addition, which now 
contains all the plants above the ferns, but 
which is very inconvenient because of the 
lack of concentration on a single floor and 
the necessary waste of time in passing from 
books to specimens and vice versa. It is the 
greatest cause for regret among those who 
appreciate its value to science that the build- 
ing is not fire-proof. It is a sad comment 
on the scientific public spirit of England that 
her government should permit this invalu- 
able collection to remain in any other than 
a fire-proof building. The loss of this enor- 
mous collection would be irreparable, and 
would alike affect the botanical knowledge 
of all the great floras of the globe, from 
Canada to Tasmania and from Iceland to 
the Straits of Magellan, wherever British 
colonial activity and scientific exploration 
have manifested themselves. To leave such 
a collection in even the remotest peril from 
destruction by fire is a national disgrace 
that the good sense of the English govern- 
ment ought to correct without delay. 
The Kew herbarium has for years been 
SCIENCE, 73 
under the care of J. G. Baker, well known 
for his publications on ferns and monocoty- 
ledons. Recently he has been succeeded 
by his able assistant, W. B. Hemsley. 
George Massee, author of a work on British 
fungi, is in charge of the lower cryptogams. 
Besides these the strictly botanical staff 
consists of six botanists and botanical as- 
sistants, a botanical artist, besides some 
clerical force. The morphological and 
physiological work is carried on for the 
Garden under Dr. D. H. Scott, at the Jodrell 
Laboratory, within the garden enclosure. 
Besides the regular staff there are other 
familiar faces at. Kew, who may be classed 
as voluntary workers. These include, be- 
sides the former Director, Sir J. D. Hooker, 
Professor Oliver, the associate and assistant 
of Bentham; C. B. Clarke, well known for 
his publications on the botany of India; M. 
C. Cooke, and others more or less regular. 
The publications of Kew have been 
enormous. The bibliographical list pub- 
lished in 1895 includes over 1,600 titles, 
varying all the way from a discussion or 
some useful plant to the flora of a continent, 
and from an octavo pamphlet to a ponder- 
ous folio volume. In 1863 Sir William 
Hooker projected a series of ‘ Floras’ on a 
uniform plan in the English language for 
all the English colonies. This project has 
been carried on steadily to the present time. 
Of these the ‘ Flora Australiensis,’ by Ben- 
tham, 1863-1878, in seven volumes, and the 
‘Flora of British India,’ by Sir J. D. 
Hooker, 1875-1894, are the most important 
that have been completed. At present the 
force is actively engaged on the ‘ Flora of 
Tropical Africa,’ probably the most diffi- 
cult undertaking of all. Itis an unfortu- 
nate circumstance that while the Germans 
are actively engaged on a similar work 
there is simply rivalry instead of coopera- 
tion in its elucidation. The colonial rivalry 
seen in Central Africa at this time between 
the Germans and the English, as manifested 
