28 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



made in every sense the greatest centre for botanical study 

 and research in the world. 



The Gardens are constricted about the middle by Kew 

 Palace Grounds, and whilst the area to the north contains 

 the buildings I have just mentioned, that to the south 

 contains the chief museum filled with dicotyledonous 

 examples. On the opposite side of the pond stands the 

 palm house — a building 362 feet long, 100 feet broad and 

 66 feet high. The grounds surrounding all these museums 

 and hot-houses are crowded with plants of all kinds, hardy 

 in the open air of England. Beyond the gardens proper, 

 is the arboretum bounded by the grounds of the Queen's 

 Cottage, the river, the deer park and Eichmond Road. 

 The chief features of this area are the lake, the great 

 temperate house covering thiee quarters of an acre and the 

 Marianne North Gallery of paintings of indigenous 

 vegetation in different parts of the world. 



Probably there are many amongst my audience who 

 have personally visited Kew Garden, and none who have 

 done so can have failed to bring away with them vivid 

 recollections of its high artistic excellence and beauty ; 

 but it needs prolonged residence and study to fully appre- 

 ciate the countless botanical treasures it contains and its 

 enormous scientific interest and value. 



One word in conclusion on the gardens of the Contin- 

 ental Universities. Every one of them possesses a garden 

 and although many of these are but small in area still 

 they are rightly considered as essential adjuncts to 

 botanical teaching. The museums are small as a rule 

 and are obviously not considered of first-rate importance. 

 Demonstrations are on the other hand always given in 

 the garden and green-houses — the living plant replaces 

 the bottled preparation. Although in our own country 

 we of course constantly employ the garden — when we are 



