[ xiv i 



iielative cost of The removal of the Herbarium from Kew to the British Museum, even 



new buildings. taking into account the mode of increasing the accommodation suggested by 



Mr. Carruthers, would entail new buildings, and these, from their necessary 



architectural features as an extension of the present building, would be very 



expensive. 



At Kew, on the other hand, the circumstances are such that a building- 

 constructed simply to fulfil the purposes of a herbarium, without any pre- 

 tensions to special architectural features, might be erected at a very moderate 

 expense. 



The question of expense is not, however, a relative one only ; it ought to 

 be regarded as an absolute one. We have to consider whether the expense 

 entailed by the union might not be so great that the union of the two 

 herbaria, in spite of the advantages which it offers, would be unjustifiable. 



That expense will depend not only on the site, but also on the mode 

 of union. 



Methods of union. Three methods of union have been suggested to us : — 



Does absolute 

 cost of removal 

 justify union % 



1. Incorporation 

 sheet by sheet. 



2. Contiguity of 

 cabinets. 



3. Contiguity of 

 buildings. 



No opinion 

 ofiered as to 

 method of union. 



1. By incorporation of the two herbaria sheet by sheet. This would be 

 the most complete method, but at the same time the most prolonged and 

 expensive, since the sheets at Kew are smaller than those at the British 

 Museum ; the one would have to be cut down or the other enlarged. 

 Besides, the elimination of duplicates, a work requiring very great care and 

 judgment, would have to be carried on paii passu with the incorporation, 



2. By contiguity of cabinets. By this method the two herbaria should 

 he placed in one building, but the present cabinets of the one and of the 

 other retained and so arranged that the Kew cabinets and the British 

 Museum cabinets containing specimens belonging to the same groups should 

 be placed side by side. 



3. By contiguity of buildings. That is to say the two herbaria should 

 be kept in buildings distinct, but placed so near to each other that access 

 from the one to the other would be easy. 



Neither of the latter methods presents any very great difficulties ; 

 neither of them would be prolonged or entail any very great expense ; either 

 of them would allov/ of the elimination of duplicates being carried on 

 gradually as opportunity might offer. 



We do not offer an opinion as to which method of amalgamation should 

 be adopted. The selection of the best method may be left for further enquiry 

 and consideration, but we may state that in our opinion the union of the 

 herbaria might be effected at Kew, by a method involving an expense so 

 moderate as not seriously to counterbalance the scientific advantages promised 

 by the union, and that this method should be adopted. 



Taking, then, into consideration all the various arguments which have 

 been adduced on the one side and on the other, we have come to the con- 

 clusion that statutory powers should be obtained for the transference of the 

 general herbarium of the British Museum to Kew, accommodation for it 

 and for the present herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, being 

 provided there. 



Sloanean and Besides the General Herbarium, the British Museum possesses the 



herbanr^^""*^^" Sloane collections and other pre-Linnean herbaria. 



It has been urged by some witnesses that these being mainly of historic 

 or antiquarian value should be retained at the British Museum, as being near 

 to the Departmental Botanical Library, which is at present maintained there, 

 and also not far from the National Library at Bloomsbury. The proximity 

 of the Linnean Herbarium, now in possession of the Linnean Society at 

 Burlington House, has been brought forward as a similar reason. . 



Historic herbaria But it seems Only natural that the Sloane Herbaria should as heretofore 



se'irated^rom ^*^ ^'^^^^ ^^^® Banksian Herbarium, which forms the nucleus and perhaps the 

 the General most valuable part of the General Herbarium. And in respect of the 



Herbarium. 



Union at Kew 

 recommended. 



