June 15, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



939 



to demonstrate all the economic plants of 

 the world or make even an approximately 

 complete display within the space of a build- 

 ing, but the temporary installation now in 

 place, represents many of the more impor- 

 tant foods, drugs, timbers, woods, fibers, 

 gums, waxes, resins, oils, sugars, starches, 

 poisons, utensils, etc. The proper develop- 

 ment of this collection requires a great 

 amount of the most careful labor, and the 

 curator has been fortunate in securing the 

 co-operation of importers, producers, and 

 manufacturers in the addition of exhibits. 



The second floor contains a type exhibit 

 of the vegetation of the globe arranged in 

 families in the Engler and Prantl sequence. 

 Specimens dry and in liquid preservatives, 

 fruits, seeds, models, drawings and photo- 

 graphs are used to jplace the concept of the 

 species before the observer. A set of 

 hinged frames on standards contain the 

 plants growing naturally within a hundred 

 miles of ISTew York City, and these are 

 placed in their proper places in the series. 

 Thus a case of the main series contains a 

 representative of the family Violacese, and 

 the frames near by display the local mem- 

 bers of same family. 



A number of microscopes of special de- 

 sign have been constructed for the purpose 

 of displaying permanently the simpler and 

 more minute organisms, or the structure of 

 the higher forms. 



The preparation of the material used in 

 the exhibits is carried on in a number of 

 rooms in the basement floor, and the mem- 

 bers of the staff engaged in this work are 

 assisted by a cabinet maker and printer. 



The entire area of the Garden has been 

 handled most sympathetically by those in 

 charge of the architectural features of the 

 Garden. The buildings were erected in the 

 more open western part of the grounds, 

 which ofiiered the least valuable landscape 

 features, and the surface around them has 

 been improved by plantings. The natural 



beauties of the tract have been most zeal- 

 ously guarded from disturbances of all 

 kinds. The attractive panorama of wild 

 woodland and stream offered to the artist 

 and lover of nature have been left absolutely 

 untouched, but made more valuable by 

 increased ease and safety of access. Thus 

 to the general public, the Botanical Garden 

 oifers all the privileges enjoyed by them 

 in the original park together with the in- 

 teresting displays offered by the large special 

 collections of interesting plants in the plan- 

 tations and horticultural houses, as well as 

 the exhibits in the museum. The increas- 

 ingly large number of visitors attests the 

 popularity of this feature of the institution. 



Another class of constituents consists of 

 the patrons, fellows, life members and an- 

 nual members of the Garden, who now 

 number over nine hundred. A person be- 

 comes an annual member on invitation of 

 the Board of Managers and payment of 

 ten dollars per year, and enjoys certain 

 privileges among which are : tickets to all 

 lectures given under the auspices of the 

 Board of Managers either at the Garden or 

 elsewhere, invitations to all exhibitions 

 given under the auspices of the Board of 

 Managers, a copy of all handbooks pub- 

 lished by the Garden, a copy of all annual 

 reports, copies of the monthly Journal, and 

 an opportunity to buy some of the other 

 publications of the institution at reduced 

 prices. 



One of the most important functions of 

 the Garden consists in the advancement of 

 the technical knowledge of botany and the 

 furtherance of research in all subdivisions 

 of the subject. 



The collections in the plantations, horti- 

 cultural houses and museum offers an ex- 

 cellent melange of material upon which 

 investigations may be based, and the her- 

 barium, library and laboratories are the 

 direct means for the facilitation of such re- 

 search work. The Garden, as an indepen- 



