58 



DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON BOTANICAL WORK : 



Sir W. T. 

 Thiselton- 



Dyer, 

 K.C.M.G., 



F.R.S. 



REPLY FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE ROfAL 

 BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. 



I. 

 29 Nov. 1900. The collections maintained at Kew have for tlieir 



primary object the advancement of botanical study m 



its most comprehensive se';i.23. For this they afford the 

 largest accumulaticri- of 'material, 'T)oth Tiying and pre- 

 served, wliich exists in any institution in the world. In 

 so far as they are publicly exhibited, they further serve 

 ror popular instruction, and, in a subsidiary degree, for 

 the requirements of artists, of commercial enquirers, and 

 of horticulturists. 



It is necessary to observe that an essential feature of 

 Kew (an expression which for the sake of brevity may 

 be used throughout this paper in the place of the full 

 title, "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew"), in which it 

 differs perhaps from eveiy other botanic institution, is 

 that plants are studied in every aspect — their structure, 

 taxonomic relations, geographical distribution, proper- 

 ties, industrial applications, and cultural capabilities. 



So wide a field of work requires a number of different 

 departments, which, though at first siglit independent, 

 are so intimately interconnected, that no one could be 

 suppressied without impairing, and perhaps fatally, the 

 usefulness of the rest. 



1. LiviifG Collections. — According to an approximate 

 enumeration made a few years ago, these include 20,000 

 species and distinct varieties. The nomenclajture of these 

 has been determined with great care, and is believed to 

 reach a standard of considerable accuracy. This can 

 only be attained by constant and, mdeed, daily reference 

 to the Herbarium. The whole living collections have 

 now been catalogued in a series of published handbooks 

 and hand-lists : — 



Hand-list of Herbaceous Plants cultivated in the 

 Royal Gardens. 1895. Cloth boards, price Is. 9d. 

 By post, 2s. Op. 



Hand-list of trees and shrubs grown in Ai-bo- 

 retum. Part I. : Polypetalse. [Under revision.] 

 Part II. : Gamopetalos to Monocotyledons. 1896. 

 Price Is. By post. Is. 22d. 



Hand-list of Coniferee grown in the Royal Gardens. 

 1896. Price 3d. By post, 4d. 



Hand-list of Trees and Shrubs, Parts I. and II., 



and Hand-list of Coniferse, in one volume, 



cloth boards. Price 2s. 8d. By post, 3s. Id. 



Hand-list of Tender Dicotyledons cultivated in tlie 



Royal Gardens. 1899. Price 2s. 6d. By post, 



inland, 2s. lOd. ; foreign and colonial, 2s. lid. 



Cloth boards, price 3s. By post, inland, 3s. 4d. ; 



foreign and colonial, 3s. 5d. 



Hand-list of Orchids cultivated in the Royal 

 Gardens. 1896. Price 6d. By post, 8d. 



Hand-list of Tender Monocotyledons cultivated in 

 the Royal Gardens. 1897. Price 9d. By post, 

 114-d. 



Hand-list of Orchids and Hand-list of Tender 



Monocotyledons, in one volume, cloth boards. 



Price 2s. By post, 2s. 4^. 



Hand-list of Ferns and Fern Allies cultivated in 



the Royal Gardens. 1895. Price 6d. By post, 



7^'. 



2. Herbaeitjm. — This consists of upwards of two 

 millions of specimens mounted on a million and a quarter 

 of sheets. It is to be noted that under " specimen " 



everything belonging to the accompanying label is meant. 

 A " specimen " may therefore include one or more com- 

 plete plants or portions or fragments of plants. The 

 sheets are contained in about 1,000 cabinets, each 4ft. 

 high. 



3. LiBEAEY.— This consists of about 19,0:0 voiu.aes. 

 Of these some 1,200 are kept in a separate building open 

 to the gardeners in the evening, and the keeper of the 

 museums has about 700 works of reference in his office. 



4. Drawings and Figuees Peeserved in thk 

 Library.— These amount to 106,000, mounted on 56,000 

 theets in 464 portfolios. 



5. Museums.— Of these there are three :— No. I. is 

 devoted to dicotyledons and gymnosperms ; No. XL to 

 monocotyledons ; No. III. to tinioers. 



in the Nos. I. and II. the specimens are arrangea in 

 systematic order. The object is to illustrate to the eye 

 the structure of different types of plants and the useful 

 purposes to which plants or their products can be applied. 

 The specimens are displayed in wall cases 8ft. high, which 

 aggregate about 2,250it. in running length, and in about 

 750ft. of table cases. They consist of 6,200 dry and 

 1,200 wet structural specimens. It is to be noted that 

 the former from their bulk could not be preserved in the 

 herbarium, to which, however, they form a necessary 

 supplement. They include models, and are further illus- 

 trated by about 1,200 photographs, plant portraits, and 

 maps illustrating geographical distribution. The 'total 

 number of economic specimens (excluding woods) is about 

 20,000. Of wood specimens 6,500 are exhibited ; the 

 smaller in their proper systematic position, the larger in 

 Museum No. III., where they are arranged geographi- 

 cally. 



A guide to each museum has been published enumerat- 

 ing and describing the most interesting objects. 



No attempt has been made to form a collection of 

 microscopic slides. They are subject to rapid deteriora- 

 tion (except in the case of fossil' plants), and are, with 

 this exception, of little value in any case to anyone but 

 the person by whom they were originally prepared,. 



6. Collection of Botanical Portraits. — These are 

 some 500 in number, including 16 oil pictures and 19 

 busts and medallions. Rather more than 200 are ex- 

 hibited. The rest are ai-ranged in portfolios. 



7. North Galleey.— This contains 848 oil pictures of 

 vegetation painted from nature in different parts of the 

 world by Miss Marianne North. It is probably fhe 

 most remarkable phytogeographic exhibition in existence. 

 Below the pictures are shown 246 specimens of woods 

 from the countries illustrated. A descriptive guide has 

 been published. Besides these about 600 photographs 

 and prints are shown in Museum No. III., illustrating 

 the botanic establishments of the Empire and of a few 

 foreign countries. It would be desirable to extend and 

 display more conveniently this collection, and for this 

 an inexpensive gallery might be easily provided. 



II. 



There is no officer designated " the keeper," but there 

 are four who correspond to such a description. Each has 

 charge of a separate department in subordination to the 

 director. 



1. — ^Keeper of the Heebarium and Libeary. 



He reports daily to the Director, and takes his instruc- 

 tions as to the nature of the work which the department 

 should take in hand from time to time and the incidental 

 business, and discusses correspondence. 



Kie following is an enumeration of his staff, with detailed particulars of the circumstances of their employ- 

 ment : — 



Office. 





Name. 



Salary. 



Entered Service. 



Age. 



Keeper - 



(Residence) - 



W. B. Hemsley 



£ s. d. 

 524 6 8 



5 July 1890 - 



57 



Principal Assistant 



. 



G. Massee 



319 1 10 



4 May 1893 - 



54 



(Cryptogams). 













Principal Assistant 



(Residence) - 



0. Stapf - 



350 - - 



13 January 1899 - 



44 



(Phanerogams). - 













Assistant 



- 



N. E. Brown - 



224 1 6 



17 February 1873 - 



51 



Ditto 



. 



R. A. Rolfe - 



224 1 6 



6 July 1880 - 



45 



Ditto 



- 



C. H. Wright - 



215 16 4 



1 September 1884 - 



36 



Ditto 



. 



S. A. Skan 



125 11 11 



16 July 1894 - 



30 



Ditto 



- 



T. A. Sprague - 



H. H. W. Pearson - 



80 - - 



23 May 1900 - 



22 



Ditto 



(Indian Flora) 



160 17 1 



1 March 1899 



31 



Artist 



. 



Miss M. Smith 



52 - - 



1 April 1898 - 



46 



Porter (in uniform) 



. 



S. Marshall - 



1 4 - 



October 1876 - 



40 



Preparer 



. 



Miss A. F. Fitch - 



- 15 - 



30 May 1892 - 



30 



Boy - - - 



- ~ " 



C. Cotter - 



- 12 - 



10 April 1899 - 



18 



