HERBARIUM. 97 



Zealand, a large aerial root of a Banyan, a Brazilian Tree-lily 

 ( Vellozia), a large Bamboo from Demerara, an Australian Grass- 

 tree (Kingia), a Brazilian Palm (Acrocomia), a Sugar-cane, and 

 a Japanese Cycad. 



A collection of British Plants is exhibited in glazed frames Britisii 

 fastened by hinges to uprights. The classification of the Seed- ''^ '' 

 plants and Perns is that used by Bentham in his " Handbook 

 of the British Flora," and his descriptions are attached as labels 

 to each plant. Three series of frames contain specimens of all 

 the British Vascular Plants. The fourth frame is occupied with 

 the Mosses, Liverworts (Hepaticse), and Stoneworts (Characese), 

 and forms the beginning of the exhibition of Cellular Plants. 

 The series is continued in the frames on the other side of the 

 gallery containing the lower Fungi and drawings of the larger 

 Fungi. The latter could not be dried so as to give a fair 

 idea of their form ; coloured drawings have therefore been 

 employed for this part of the series. The British Lichens are 

 arranged in a cabinet of narrow glass-topped drawers. 



Above the entrance to the great Herbarium is a life-size 

 photograph of an Orchid, Phalienopsis schilleriana, from the 

 Philippine Islands. 



The portion devoted to the use of the scientific student con- Herbarium. 

 sists mainly of the great Herbarium of Flowering Plants. This 

 is a collection of plants, fastened on single sheets of folio 

 paper, representing, so far as it has been possible to obtain 

 them, first, every species of plant living on the earth, and 

 then the distribution of each species on the surface of the 

 earth. The various species are collected under their respec- 

 tive genera, and these are arranged in their natural orders ; 

 the whole being classified according to the system of Bentham 

 and Hooker's " Genera Plantarum." The plants of the British 

 Isles form a small separate collection. The important herbarium 

 of Sir Hans Sloane is kept distinct in its original form, the 

 plants being pasted on the pages of 333 large folios. There are 

 other ancient herbaria of great historic and scientific interest, 

 as well as an excellent working library and a collection of figures 

 of plants. The Herbarium of Vascular Cryptogams and Cellular 

 Plants (Mosses, Liverworts, Algae, Lichens, and Fungi) is in a 

 separate room entered from the head of the great staircase. 



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