SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS ENQUIRIES. 



129 



J. D. to the Eoyal Observatory, if that was thought necessary, 



Hooker, liayiiiij the power of recommendation to tlie First Com- 



u.b! r.R.sI missionor of Works, after consultation with tlio director, 



'— but not havini^ the jiower of making appointments taken 



^*'^- out of our hands. 



* » * 



6697. Lectures and demonstrations are occasionally 

 ffiven to the younq^ gardeners, but this is voluntaiy on 

 tlio part of the officers. 



6698. It would be possible for '' certain able and 

 active " officers of the gardens to combine bhe function 

 of giving pubbc lectures togetbei- with their present 

 duties, '• but I think that it would be highly inexpedient 

 to require it of them." 



6699. The business of conservation and naming of plants 

 is one which is quite sufficient to occupy a man's whole 

 time, and '"to keep him abundantly occupied." 



6700. A man might be an exceedingly good namer of 

 plants and a very accomplished botanist, but perhaps 

 be might be a very inefficient expositor. 



6701. The Herbarium is looked upon as a sort of object 

 library. 



6702. Ifc is consulted in the same way as the library of 

 the British Museum. 



* * * 



6721. We are not at all troubled with dust at Kew 

 compared with London. 



6722. The impediment that it is to keeping specimens 

 in museums in London is " veiy great ; but I think that 

 might be obviated to a great extent by placing the 

 museum within a grassed area planted -with trees." 



6723. Still, wherever you might put your Natural 

 History Museum there is no doubt that if you have thou- 

 sands of persons walking through it, those persons will 

 create an enormous amount of dust, "but I question 

 whether that amount is so great as what the atmosphere 

 otherwise brings, especially in cases where the road or 

 open street abuts on to the building. The quantity 

 intercepted by grass and by trees, if you can have them, 

 is very great." 



6724. The main process by which the dust is got into 

 the cases in which specimens are exhibited is the sort of 

 pumping arising from the alternate heating and cooling 

 of the air, as the result of which the dusty air in the 

 interior of the building is pumped into the cases and the 

 dust is deposited upon the specimens. 



6725. Tour plan of hermetically sealing the face of 

 the case which is turned towards the public mainl- with 

 a, view of preventrng that pumping operation ? — -Yes, 

 mainly for that, and also for the greater convenience of 

 T\-orking naturalists, who are thus not interfered with by 

 the public when getting access to the specimens. 



6726. There would be nothing to prevent a museum so 

 arranged being open to the public every day all day long. 



6727. On the other hand, the curator and persons who 



wished to Tvork at the specimens could always get them 

 ■every day and all day long without interference. 



6728. With regard to duplicaites, "I generally keep a 

 list of the establishments to which each class of dupli- 

 cates wiU be most useful, and distribute them very much 

 accordingly. Sometimes there are as many as 25 or 30 

 sets of duplicates in one collection, and, so far as the 

 specimens are concerned, we distribute them ticketed 

 with a name or number corresponding with the name or 

 number they bear in the Kew collection, so that each 

 specimen is the authority for Kew." 



6730. Supposing that in addition to my present work 

 I had thrown upon my hands the superintendence of the 

 botanical collection in the museiim which it is proposed 

 to erect at South Kensington, " I thinik that with the aid 

 of the museum officers I could bring the collections under 

 one system. . There would be a good deal of assistance 

 required in the first arrangement, but after that I think 

 it would simply be the duty of one establishment to 

 supply the other with specimens." 



6731. When the specimens are sent to foreign 

 museums, of course, there is an end of trouble. 



6732. " The arrangement of the herbaria once effected 

 the trouble of supplying the South Kensington Museum 

 with specimens would be very trifling. On their arrival 

 ftt the British Museum they could be put into their places 

 by the officers there, the operation being as simple as 

 that of putting books on a shelf." 



6733. A subordinate would be sufficient for arranging 

 the botanical part of the South Kensington Museum, and 

 for keeping up its herbarium. " After the first rearrange- 



1S7 



mcnL was effected a subordinate at t)ic museum could .i. u. 

 intercalate the additions ; but if you keep a palreonto- iiookek, 

 logical collection at the British Miiseum you must have ok' 'jm^s! 

 a good botanist there at any rate. I think it would be a 

 great i)ity that there should not be resident in London a 

 good botanist, in connection with tlie Natural History 

 Museum ; and such officer, wlio would have the charge 

 "f the fossil botany, would be fitted to take charge of 

 ilie herbarium there too. 



6734. I do not say that the two botanical depaitmenta 

 sltould be under one control, but that the two lierbaria 

 should be managed upon one system. 



6735. When formed, the South Kensington herbarium 

 would remain under the control of the botanist attached 

 to the Natural History Museum, and be continuously 

 added to from Kew. 



6736. Undoubtedly the fossil plants ought to be in 

 the Botanical Department of the Natural History 

 Museum. I think that the Palreontologist (vegetable) 

 sliould be supplied with a complete, well-named, geo- 

 graphically-arranged collection of plants." 



6737. I would divide the Palasontological Department 

 at South Kensington into two divisions, animal and 

 vegetable. 



6740. " As far as the fossil plants and the herbarium 



are concerned, they should be under the direction of the 

 museum authorities." 



6741. I would keep the fossil plants under the Superin- 

 tendent of the Natural History collections. 



6742. The fossil jjlants and herbarium of the museum 

 should be placed in juxtaposition, and the keeping of 

 both should devolve upon the same officer of the museum. 



6743. The person who had the fossil plants would also 

 have charge of the recent herbarium. He would look 

 to Kew to be supplied with herbarium specimens. 



6745. He would then simply draw his supplies from 

 Kew. "It would be part of the duty of the first hcr- 

 bariumi in the country to supply the Britisli Museum with 

 as complete and well named a set of herbarium speci- 

 mens from the several geographical areas as possible." 



6746. And those specimens once supplied to South 

 Kensington would be in charge of the Superintendent 

 of the Natural History collection and under his govern- 

 ment. 



6747. The Director of Kew would be responsible for 

 the new museum at South Kensington being supplied 

 with everything that Kew could supply, the object being 

 defined, namely, the keeping up of a thoroughly 

 well-named typical set of specimens arranged geo- 

 graphically. 



6748. The system of government at Kew is one which 

 might be with advantage transferred to the British 

 Museum. "' I think that the plan should be of having one 

 supreme Director responsible solely to a Minister of the 

 Crown." 



6749. I have considered the very different magnitude 



of the two institutions. 



6750. Particularly in respect of the natronage that 

 would be placed in the hands of such a Director. " I anj 

 not quite sure that the difference is so very great. You 

 would have in the British Museum more accomplished 

 naturalists ; but, on the other hand, you would have very 

 much fewer temporary subordinate appointments of 

 value." 



6751. But more appointments of some value and im- 

 portance. 



6752. At Kew there is but one office that might be 

 described as an office of some importance in respect of 

 emolument — " that is, the Keeper of the Herbaria and 

 the Library, and he has two scientific men under him." 



6753. Those are places of a still more subordinate 

 character; "but, on the other hand, I have garden 

 officers, and I have labourers and gardeners in suoh 

 numbers as you would probably not have in the Natural 

 History Museum." 



* * * 



6759. I do not think it advisable that the duty of 

 giving lectures upon the specimens under their charge 

 should be imposed upon the Keepers of the different 

 departments at the British Museum. 



6760. It might "be advisable that some advantage 

 should be taken in the way of illustration and lectures to 

 the pubbc of the specimens in the British Museum, 

 whoever might be appouited to deliver those lectures, but 

 that opens up an entirely new question, as to whether the 



