56 



DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON BOTANICAL WORK : 



Sir W. T. 



Thisdton- 



Dyer, 



K.C.M.G., 

 F.R.,S. 



29 Nov. 1900. 



VI. The approximate numiber of specimens received 

 annually during tilie last few years. 



VII. The main results, scientific or other, whicih have 

 been accoanplished by means of your collections 

 since 1875. 



This statement may be given as in paragraph 

 III., tlius: — 



(1) Popular infitruotions. 



(2) Assistance given tc students, i.e., 

 educational use. 



(3) Assistance to research, given either to 

 home or foreign investigators. 



(4) Governmemt requisitions, 



special attemtion being given to the third and 

 fourth sub-lheadings. 



VIII. The main respects in whidli your collections 

 difi'er from similar collections ait the Briti'sh 

 Museum. 



IX. The eircumi&tances wliidh defcormine- whether a 

 particular collection is placed under your charge, 

 or goes to the British Museum. 



X. The annual cosit of miaintaaning the coUeotion®, 

 distiinguishing : — 



(a) AdminiistBatdoin, as salaries and wages. 



(b) Purchases of (1) Dried plants and (2) 



Books and Binding. 



(c) iSpeciai expenditure not falling under 



either, of the preceding categories. 



XI. "Wliether specaanens are lent to monographers ; if 

 so, <jn Avhat conditions. 



XII. Information is also desired on the following 

 sp ecial p oimts ; — 



1. When specimens sudh as bulky fmits, or 



woods, cannot be incorporated with the 

 dried plants, how and where are they 

 preserved ? 



2. Whether tlie specimens are podsoned, or if 



some other preservative such as camphor 

 is employed to guard against inseot-damage. 



Z. If the specimens tre glued down and laid in 

 at stated intervals ? 



4. Whether any accumulation of unmounrtied 



plants takes place, and if so, are sucili un- 

 amounted ooUeatdions readily available for 

 botanic use, and further, wlhat is the amount 

 of such accumulation ? 



5. Are there any fossil plants under your 



charge ? If so, what system is adopted in 

 their arrangement ? 



6. Wihat arrangement is f jltowed with regard to 



recent plants? Under genera whait is the 

 system pursued, either of following some 

 recognised authority, or a geographic 

 aiTangeanent ? If the latter, state if many 

 redundances arise in consequence of widely- 

 disitniibuted plants occuri'ing in several 

 geographic divisions ? 



7. Have the cabinets fixed shelves, or movable 



trays ? 



8. WhsA, is the size of the sheets on which the 



plants are glued? Is a special size used 

 for such specimens as palms ? 



9. Have you any subsidiary collections besides 



the general collection ? If so, whait is their 

 character, and the reason they are kept 

 separate ? 



lOi Oan specimens be examined by boiling, or 

 other laboratory metlliods ? 



11. Are the colieotions housed in a fire-proof 

 building ? 



12. Have you sufficient space for your coHections, 

 or is it likely to become inadequate within 

 the next few years ? 



13. What space is available for extension in 

 connectian with existing buiidiings or 

 galleries ';• 



14. How far is the collection of prints and 

 drawings availaible for public use, with a 

 view _ of determining planfts, and thus 

 diminishing tlie risk of damage by consult- 

 ing herii>arium specimens ? 



15. What publications are issued officially, by : 



(a) The officers of the herbarium. 



(b) Specialists not themselves officera, 

 but acting under authorization, 



and if the cost of such pubhoations is wholly 

 borne hy the G-overnment, or is partially 

 defrayed out of some other source of income. 



16. Wliat is the extent of tlie library in connec- 

 tion with the herbarium ? Is it complete in 

 itself, or dependent on some other collection 

 of general works ? 



17. Is there a printed catalogue of your library ? 



18. What means are eanployed to secure the 

 most important new publications, journals, 

 and transactions ? 



Sir William T. Thiselton-Dyer, Iv.C.M.G., F.R.S., 

 Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to thf 

 Secretary of the Botanical Work Committee. 



[COPT.X 



Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 



October 29th, 1900. 

 Sir, — The First Commissioner of Her Majesty's 

 Works and Public Buildings transmitted to me the 

 letter which you addressed to him on April 24th, en- 

 closing a memorandum which, under instructions from 

 the Chairman of the Botanical Work Committee, you 

 requested him to place in my hands. This memorandum 

 contained " a statement of the data which the Com- 

 mittee desire to have before them at their first meet- 

 ing." 



2. This statement I have now the honour to 

 submit to you. The field of work of this establishment 

 is so large and varied that it Avould have been impos- 

 sible to do it justice by merely brief replies to the 

 interrogatories. I have not hesitated, therefore, to place 

 before the Committee the fullest information in my 

 possession. I have assumed that most of what I have 

 stated will not be within the kno-^^ledge of the members 

 of the Committee. I do not think I have communicated 

 anything which in one shape or other will not be 

 material to their deliberations. I might have added 

 a good deal more. 



3. The preparation of the replies has been a laborious 

 undertaking in addition to an unprecedented amount 

 of other Government work, including several other 

 .departmental Committees. I much regret the delay 

 in furnishing you with the replies. This has been 

 altogether unavoidable. I have not been able to revise 

 my replies as a whole or condense them, and I am 

 aware that there is a good deal of repetition in what I 

 have written. This, however, arises from the inter- 

 rogatories in many instances covering the same ground. 



4. I have further to ask you to lay before thj Com- 

 mittee the following general observations. As regards 

 Kew, this enquiry, according to the Treasury Minute of 

 19th April, 1899, originated in a proposal which I sub- 

 mitted for " reconstructing and improving the building 

 in which the Kew Herbarium is now housed." The 

 urgency of the matter will be seen from the information 

 and documents which I have introduced into my replies. 

 I confess I am at a loss to understand why it is neces- 

 sary to investigate it unless it is proposed to remove 

 the Kew Herbarium elsewhere, and consequently break 

 up Kew as a national scientific institution. It, there- 

 fore, appeared to me desirable to show at some length 

 that the whole work of Kew focuses in the Herbarium, 

 and would be immediately paralysed without it. 



5. It seemed the more desirable to take this course, 

 as the Treasury Minute proceeds to observe that the 

 Committee would be so framed " that the bearings of 

 the question on the Empire at large might be fully 

 considered." .1 have therefore thought it necessary to 

 enter somewhat fully into what may be called the 

 Imperial work of Kew. And here I may observe that 

 Kew has now been in some degree officially recognised 

 by the Colonial Office by the inclusion of an account 

 of the establishment in the Colonial Office list. 



6. I may point out that the question of the concentra- 

 tion of botanical work at Kew has been more than once 

 the subject of official discussion during the last forty 

 years. 



1 find from papers presented to Parliament in 1858 

 that the Trustees of the British Museum vfer© not in- 



