, . p-i-Kioipjftty ;aooKS ul reierence m systematk- 

 6,n& geographic botany. Throe leadins ta- 

 bles of generous proportions, ;iiso of steel, 

 win stand about. The eases containing the 

 catalogue of tlie hooka and the card-blbll- 

 ographles will be of steel. 



Chairs for the library, and for other 

 parts of the Herbarium, must be of wood. 

 Otherwise they would be uncomfortable 

 and cold. Supposing they were of steel 

 rather than of wood, the amount of up- 

 holstery necessary to make them practica- 

 ble would result in making them also com- 

 bustible and inilammahle. But the over- 

 whelming proportion of steel furnishings, 

 even If a Are should start in the library, 

 would do away with any appreciable dan- 

 ger of Its spreading. 



The second floor of tlie library wing will 

 contain another stack I'or bodlts. Between 

 the two stacks about L'O.OiK) volumes and 

 pamphlets will be distributed, and space af- 

 forded for many years' growth. Here, too, 

 will be steel leading tables. On this floor 

 will be set apart three smaller rooms: one 

 for the curator (Professor Benjamin Lin- 

 coln Robinson), one for the librarian (Miss 

 Mary A. Day), and a room tor maps and 

 publications. The old library was small. 

 Imperfectly lighted, by no means safe from 

 fire, and quite inadequate for the shelving 

 of the books of reference. 



It has long been the practice of those 

 in charge of the Herbarium to permit any- 

 one—whether or not connected with Har- 

 vard College or with the New England 

 Botanical Club— anyone who displays an 

 intelligent Interest in systematic botany, to 

 examine these books of reference; and the 

 increased facilities will now make it pos.sU 

 ble to accommodate botanists from all over 

 the world to a greater extent than it is pos- 

 sible to calculate at present. 



The laboratory wing of the Herbarium, 

 on the right, will lie Between the m,ain 

 portion of the Herbarium and the conser- 

 vatories. The basement will contain coal 

 bins and boiler room, and will be devoted 

 to the storage of boxes and other materials 

 for packing. The ground floor will con- 

 tain, besides a coat room, two rooms to 

 be used by those pursuing the courses of | 

 systematic botany given by Harvard Col- 

 lege. 



t^Tpstairs wiil be a room about 2B by isi 

 feet for the collection of the New England 

 Botanical Qliib. There also will be the 

 room of Mfrritt Lyndon Fernald, assist- 

 ant -professor of Dotany in Harvard Col- 

 lege and president of the New England Bo- 



1 tanical Club. He will have charge of the 

 dlub collection. 

 Besides there will be what is called "the 



I bundle room," the repository of plant speci- 

 mens before they are satisfactorily pre- 

 pared for the organized collection. Also, 

 here will be the instrument room, supplied 

 with microscopes. lenses, and so forth. The 



j entire laboratory wing is to be known as 



1 The George Robert White Laboratories of 



' Systematic Botany. 



r This wing has been made possible by the 

 donation of $31,300 by Mr. White, for a 

 long time a member of the visiting com- 

 mittee of the Herbarium. Of this sum 

 I about $10,000 will be put into flie steel fur- 

 1 nlsbings. These furnishings have much to 

 I do with briugins it about that for the first 

 time In the history of the Herbarium there 

 are proper facilities for the storage of 

 specimens— also for protecting them from 

 fire, mice, bugs, and destruction of every 

 kind. There is no other Herbarium in the 

 world so well protected from fire as ths 

 Gray Herbarium -nill be. There is no other 

 j Herbarium in this country so valuable 



systematic botahf of Mar<?ard 6oilege7 is 

 (Mirator) and the New England Botanical 

 (:'lub are supplementary to each other. 



The already described improvements 

 when completed will render the little brick 

 liuUdlng In Garden street, Cambridge, to 

 even a higher degree than ever before a 

 working centre, not only for students of the 

 New England flora, but for all botanists— 

 both professional and amateur. 



