[ xvi ] 



Relations of Kew 

 to various 

 Government 

 Departments. 



The Trustees 

 having control 

 of the G-ardens 

 would raise 

 difficulties. 



Advisory Board 



Representation 

 of the Trustees 

 on the Board. 



of the rest of the Museum. The Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Kew. is no less an instrument of scientific research, but it is also an instru- 

 ment of economic and commercial scientific work of Imperial moment : and 

 the latter use of it is so interwoven with the varied functions of the Gardens, 

 that the administration of the herbarium is inseparable from the general 

 administration of the whole establishment in its scientific aspect. The 

 herbarium cannot be separated from the rest of the Gardens and placed by 

 itself under the control of the Trustees of the British Museum ; if it is 

 so placed, the whole of the establishment in its scientific aspect must be 

 so placed. 



At present the resources of Kew are at the immediate disposal of the 

 important Government Offices, Colonial, India, and Foreign. Were Kew 

 placed under the Trustees of the British Museum, unless their control were a 

 merely nominal one, a thing in itself most undesirable, the demands of these 

 Government Offices on the resources of Kew would be subject to the control 

 of the Trustees, a situation fraught with difficulties and dangers. Nor can 

 we conceive of any change in the constitution of the trusteeship, such as the 

 direct representation of the said Government Offices on the Board of 

 Trustees, which would adequately safeguard these dangers, and at the same 

 time be practicable. 



Again, unless the Trustees of the British Museum took over the control 

 of the Gardens as a place of public resort, a step open to the most grave 

 objections, the position of the First Commissioner and his relations to the 

 Trustees would be subject to even greater difficulties. 



We cannot, therefore, recommend the latter of the two alternatives 

 under consideration. 



On the other hand, supposing that the Royal Botanic Gardens continued 

 to be administered by the First Commissioner, it does not seem desirable that 

 the collections at the British Museum should be transferred to the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew, without some change in the organisation of the Gardens 

 such as would give the Trustees some voice in the administration of those 

 collections after the transference. We believe, moreover, that such a change aa 

 would bring about a definite connection between the British Museum and 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens would be for the benefit, not only of the 

 collections at Kew, but also of botanic science as a whole. And we shall 

 have something further to say as to the advantages of such a connection 

 in respect to the other collections of the British Museum when we come 

 to deal later on with the remaining botanic collections at the British 

 Museum. f 



Further it must be borne in mind that, as has been urged by the present 

 Director, the functions of the Royal Botanic Gardens have never been defined 

 by any official statement beyond the Treasury Minute of 24th July 1872 ; 

 that the present duties of the Director have gradually grown up through 

 demands made by the several departments of Government and the 

 public, owing to the Royal Botanic Gardens being the only source of 

 trustworthy advice and information on applied botanic science. And we 

 are of opinion that a change of such a character as, while not inter- 

 fering with the present arrangement by which the First Commissioner is 

 directly responsible for the administration of the Royal Botanic Gardens at 

 Kew, would make provision in respect to the scientific functions of the 

 Gardens of a more definite character than any at present existing, would, quite 

 apart even from the present question, place the whole administration of the 

 Gardens in a more satisfactory position. 



We have, therefore, come to the conclusion that the united herbaria 

 should not be placed under the Trustees of the British Museum, but should 

 form part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, subject to some such change 

 in the administration as we have just indicated. We believe that the objects 

 we have in view in recommending such a change might be secured if, while 

 the relations of the First Commissioner to the Buildings and to the Gardens 

 as a place of public resort 'remained as heretofore, there were established a 

 Board or Council on which the Trustees of the British Museum should be 



