10 



INTRODUCTION. 



due to Mr. Alton, under whose superintendence the col- 

 lection of rare plants became celebrated. In 1789 it 

 contained five thousand five hundred species, as recorded 

 in his edition of " Hortus Kewensis," published in three 

 volumes^ under the patronage of George III. This 

 monarch, -with the assistance of Sir Joseph Banks, 

 gave great facilities for the introduction of exotic plants, 

 and botanical collectors were sent to various countries, 

 as also to accompany surveying expeditions, by which 

 means a large number of new plants were intro- 

 duced, and Kew obtained European celebrity for its 

 collections. 



In J 8 1 3, a second edition of " Hortus Kewensis," in five 

 volumes, appeared, edited by Mr. W. T. Aiton (son of the 

 preceding), when the collection is enumerated as having 

 increased to 9800 species, but on account of many being 

 tropical annuals of a weedy nature, and from want of 

 good accommodation, there was never at any one time 

 that number in the garden. Since that period great 

 additions have been made by special collectors and 

 travellers, but no general catalogue has been published. 

 From various lists, however, about 13,000 have been 

 noted as contained in the garden, the greatest number 

 at any one time being about 11,000. The Kew collec- 

 tion may be fairly said to represent the principal families 

 of the vegetable kingdom, and aff'ords ample materials for 

 the study of botany. 



Besides collections of living plants, the preservation of 

 which is not always practicable or convenient, collections 

 of dead ones are also formed, by drying and pressing 

 specimens of plants between sheets of soft absorbing 

 paper, and then fixing them on sheets of white paper, on 

 which is written the name of the plant, its native country, 



