SUMMARY OF I'REVIOUS ENQUIRIES. 



131 



G. 



iBKNTHAM 

 Esq., F.K.S 



1871 



I might mention, perhaps, in some respects how my 

 experience has been formed ; that it is mob only from 

 a knowledge of the herbaria of tliis countiy, but also from 

 a practical acquaintance with most of the princi])al con- 

 tinental botanical museums ; that is to say, I have 

 worked for weeks or months together in the National 

 and other principal herbaria of Paris, Berlin, Vienna, 

 Munich, Geneva, and Florence, and I have examined 

 into the working of tlie National herbaria of Leyden, 

 Copenhagen, Upsala, Stocldidm, St. Petersburg, and 

 Madrid, besides those of several smaller towns in France, 

 Germany, and Italy. During the last 50 years I have 

 been a working bt>tanist. My lirst botanical paper was 

 published in 1821, and, for the last 37 years, botiuiy has 

 been the business of my life, and, therefore I consider 

 that few persons have had so mncli experience of the 

 working of these establishments as myself. 



7206. In reference to the collection of plants which 

 should be in the National Natural History Museum, tne 

 Keeper should be a scientiitic geologist as well as a 

 botanist, and would require probably but one scientific 

 assistant. I would pi-opase to make the botanical col- 

 lection in the National Museum subordinate to vegetable 

 paleontology, but " very pairtially so — not fully sub- 

 ordinate to the palceontology, because that is only one 

 of its subjects." 



7207. To a certain degree only, it should be subser- 

 vient to it. " So far as it is a tyipical nmisenni it is quit'e 

 independent of palreontology for the use of a numiber of 

 persons who do not want to go to work in the herbarium, 

 but merely wish to look over a number of plants to get 

 a general idea of their general as,pect, and to compare 

 their own specimens as far as they can do it merely by 

 looking through them without examination. There are a 

 large number of persons who have collected a few plants, 

 and who want themselves to ascertain whether they have 

 correctly named them, and who only require to look 

 through a well-arranged typical heiibarium to see whether 

 they are right as to the genera or as to the species ; and 

 for that a large working establishment like the one at 

 Kew is not suited, because there are a great mass of 

 specimens of the same species which take a long time to 

 go over. That is one of many purposes for which a her- 

 barium in London would be eminently useful for amateurs 

 and others, quite independently of palteontology ; andl, 

 therefore, I can by no means consider it as entirely sub- 

 sei'\nent to palse ontology." 



7208. It would be a better plan that the Keeper 

 should be a botanist, and that he should have assistants 

 "who had specially devoted themselves to the palseontology 

 •of plants, " for the palseontological part he would requ^Tc 

 palfeontological assistants, and for the botanical part a 

 botanical assistant ; but I think it very essential that he 

 bimself should be both." 



7209. Whether the Keeper of the Botanical Collection 

 in the National Museum should be subordiinate to the 

 Superintendent of all the collections there, or should 

 he be in any way subordinate to the Director of Kew 

 " is a very delicate question, in which very many interests 

 .are concerned. Of course, so far as the botanical collec- 

 tion is concerned, it would be very essential that he 

 should work in harmony witli Kew ; and, therefore, if 

 the two were under one head it would be an advantage. 

 On the other hand, it requires that he should work in 

 "harmony with the zoological and geological museums, 

 and be in close connexion with them ; and that is a 

 reason for the vs''hole being under one management ; but 

 that is a complicated! question, rather beyond my pro- 

 vince, excepting, so far as I think, that every precaution 

 should be tafken that the two botanical departments 

 should work in harmony together." 



7210. There would be very great difficulty in adminis- 

 tration if there were in the same building a Keeper of 

 the collection who was wholly independent of the general 

 Suiperintendeinlt, "and, therefore, I think it would never 

 do to place the London collection under the direction of 

 the Director of Kew." 



7211. There is no proposal to place in the National 

 Museum anything corresponding with the Museum of 

 Economic Botany. " I think that, the two coUections that 

 we have are quite sufficient for that purpose. It is very 

 essential that they should be as extensive as possible, 

 and it would be too much to require the nation to keep 

 up three collections. Two collections for two different 

 objects are very useful, and these two objects may be 

 -clearly defined as I have above stated, by the products 

 being arranged in the one, as at Kew, according to the 

 plants they proceed from, an object which, although a 

 purely scientific one, has great practical advantages ; ana 

 in the other, as at South Kensington, according to the 



uses they are put to, for food, for clothing, or for other 

 puri)ose8. 



* « * 



John Sail, E.sq., m.a., F.n.s. ; Examined. 



7213. {Chairman.) I /have devoted much attention to 

 I he natural sciences — mainly to botany. 



7214. In some degree I liave considered the question 

 nf our ^National botanical collections. "I have had occa- 

 sion to personally make use of collections in \ariou3 

 coinitries, and necessarily also at home. I have not been 

 living in England much for the last ten years, but I know 

 enough ^of the Kew herbarium and collections generally 

 to be pretty familiar with Uiem. I believe I may say 

 that it is admittedly, not only the richest, bub also in 

 every way the most valuable and available to science 

 of any collection in the world." 



7215. I am partially acquainted also with the collection 

 at the British Museum. 



7216. " I think it desirable that there should be a col- 

 lection, speaking more strictly, an herbarium, a collection 

 of dried plants made as complete as it can be in the 

 metropolis ; but I do not think that it is desirable that 

 there should be anything like a competing collection. 

 The collection at Kew is more valuable to science, being 

 there close to the great garden, possessing as it does 

 materials which it would be in vain to try to collect, even 

 at any outlay of money. You could not bring together 

 again such a herbarium as there is now existing at^Kew. 

 The British Museum contains certain valuable and in- 

 teresting collections, some of tliem unique, and it is, I 

 think, generally felt by the cultivators of science that it 

 would be very desirable that they should be united to the 

 unrivalled collection at Kew, while at the same time I 

 consider that the collection at the British Museum might 

 be made more valuable tO' science andl to scientific men 

 than it now is, even although you took away from it some 

 portions of the materials that are now there. 



7217. I would say that it is by no means a conclusion 

 come to exclusively from observing our own collections, 

 but I have everywhere seen that the keeping up of a 

 great Natural History collection in any branch of science 

 is a thing that requires a concurrence of favouraible cir- 

 cumstances that are very rarely united. I am familiar 

 with the collections in various parts of Europe, which, 

 ill spite of thei materials being there, aie not made so 

 available to science as they might be and as ihey should 

 be, not because they have not eminent scientific men 

 connected with them, but because the system is not 

 adequate^ to attaining a most difficult object— namely, 

 maintaining a very large collection in a complete state 

 avaiiaible for reference. I will not go into detail as to 

 those which I liave in view at this moment in Paris, in 

 Germany, and in Italy ; but I may say that very often 

 it depends upon the traditions of a place. We had in 

 the British Museum the most eminent botanist of the 

 present century, and, perhaps, of any century, Mr. 

 Robert Brown, unrivalled for his powers in his own de- 

 partment, but yet he had not that combination of qualities 

 wbich makes a good administrator of a National coUection. 

 And I venture to say that the traditions of the British 

 Museum have not been favourable to making the collec- 

 tions there as available for the general purposes of science 

 as might be desired. At the present moment there are 

 two very competent gentlemen at the British Museum, 

 but I do not think that it would be within their power 

 to make the collection there at all a rival to that at Kew. 

 Having one National establishment such as Kew, which 

 I take to be as near perfection as it is possible in human 

 affairs to attain to, it would be easy from their rich 

 stores of duplicates to supply not only the British 

 Museum, but such other institutions as may be fixed 

 upon, and as it is desirable to aid in that way with 

 correctly-named duplicates, which would enable you to 

 have herbaria for reference, not only at the British 

 Museum, but also at other centres that may be fixed 

 upon in the United Kingdom. I believe that that could 

 be done ; of course, there I speak under the correction 

 of those who manage the department ; but I believe it 

 could be done without any large imcrease to the present 

 eistablishment alt Keiw. Tlie tendencv, p«'i-haps, of 

 National collections and public establishments placed 

 nnder men who are themselves distinguished in science, 

 and who naturally are carrying on original inquiries or 

 studies of some kind, is to let what appears to them to 

 be in great measure the mechanical work fall into arrear ; 

 and it is only when a very excellent system has been 

 well established, and has liecome part "of the tradition 

 and rule of the place, that j on can combat this tendency, 

 not only of the chief, but of his assistants. Thev are 



I'.K.VnjAM, 

 l;si|., K.R.8. 



IS71. 



.r. Ball 



Esq., M.A., 

 K.R.S. 



