194 
The collection of portraits of distinguished botanists and travellers 
which has been accumulating for many years past, and a small portion 
of which is exhibited in Museum No. ], has recently received an 
addition in the form of a platinotype photograph of Mr. Giles Munby, 
which has been kindly presented to e Museum of the Royal Gardens 
by one of his daughters, Mrs. Cunde 
Mr. Menby, who was born at York i in the year 1813, was well known 
for his botanical travels and explorations in France and Algeria. In 
tbe last-named country he res vue for a period of 21 @ years and 
published a valuable work on its flor 
After his death, which Pleite. ‘at his residence, The Holt, near 
Farnham, in 1876, his herbarium was presented by his family to the 
Royal Gardens, together with a selection of living plants which had 
been cultivated by ‘him in his own garden. 
_ Mr. Bent’s Expedition to the Hadramaut Valley.—It was announced 
in the Kew Bulletin for 1893, p. 366, that Mr. W. Lunt, a mem aber of 
the gardening staff, was to accompany Mr. Bent in the capacity of 
botanical collector. The en = successful, but the opposition 
of the natives limited the extent of the explorations. The members 
reached England, on their return, tales the end of April. Mr. Lunt's 
botanieal collections were excellently prepared and preserved, and con- 
tain many interesting novelties, including two new genera and new 
species of such genera as Aloe, Adenium, Arthrosolen, Littonia, Statice, 
and Vellozia, Mr. Baker, ‘the eeper, and other members of the 
Herbarium staff are engaged working out the dried plants, the first 
received from South Arabia, eastward of Aden, except a few odd scraps 
cee up by varicus travellers. The Western Province of Yemen 
as botanised by Forskal in 1768, and quite recently by Deflers and 
anani. with the result that the flora proves almost identical 
Pm that of Abyssinia. Mr. Bent's expedition penetrated as far north 
s Al Had, on the sixteenth parallel.  . 
California.—At the instance of the United States Department of 
Agrieulture an expedition was sent in 1891 to investigate the natural 
history of the Death Valley, California. To this expedition Mr. F. V. 
Coville was attached as botanist, and he has now published a full npe 
of the botanical results, which occupies the fourth volume of “ Con 
tributions from the United sgean National Herbarium.” The Death 
Valley is situated between 36? and 37° N. lat. and 117? and 118° W. 
long. being bounded on the om by the Amargosa and Mrs 
Mountains and on the west by the Pinto and Panamint ranges. 
temperature of this region is subject to great variation. In July the 
mean daily shade temper rature was 102° Fahr. , while iu August the 
average daily range was 32^, amd occasionally at night freezing point 
was reached. The expedition did not confine its attention to the Death 
Valley, but also explored part of the surrounding region, the whole 
resulting i in the collection of the 1, Sk species. enumerated i in the report. 
58 shrubby species, 40 perennial ind 104 annual herbs. The only trees 
in this region are Vucca arborescens and Y. macrocarpa. The former 
(a photograph of which forms the frontispiece of the volume) attains à 
height of 25 feet with a trunk 2 feet in diameter; Y. macrocarpa | 
