No 39 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO VISIT 

 THE GRAY HERBARIUM 



To THE Board of Overseers op Harvard College : — 



During the period since its last report the Committee appointed 

 to visit the Gray Herbarium have met two or three times each year. 

 The first of these meetings has commonly been in January or 

 February and has been held at the Herbarium, where the Committee 

 have listened to a detailed report by the Curator upon the condition 

 of the collections, extent of the accessions, development of the 

 library of the Herbarium, changes of the staff, nature of the mono- 

 graphic activities, field exploration, determinative work, and publi- 

 cation. A second and sometimes a third meeting have been held, 

 usually in Boston during May or June, to consider resources and 

 accounts, acknowledge important gifts, and give counsel when re- 

 quested by the Curator. These meetings have been attended by 

 about two-thirds or three-fourths of the members of the Committee. 

 Most of the members have also personally visited the Herbarium at 

 other times and have had all desired facilities to acquaint themselves 

 with the personnel of the staff, management of the collections, and 

 nature of the scientific work. 



Each year to assist the Herbarium the Committee have endorsed 

 an annual circular, presenting as briefly as possible the nature of 

 the collections, their high scientific value, the practical as well as 

 theoretical aspects of the work done by the staff, and asking for vol- 

 untary donations of ten dollars or more for the purpose of giving to 

 the staff the power of further undertakings, especially in the way of 

 exploration and publication, than could be accomplished by means 

 of the regular income of the establishment. These circulars have 

 met with prompt and courteous response from a considerable number 

 of persons, the amovmts received having varied from $1,400 to 

 $2,000. These sums, supplementing the regular income, have in 

 several instances been of crucial value in permitting the successful 

 completion of exploring expeditions to remote and little investigated 

 fields. 



In connection with the field-work directed from the Gray Her- 

 barium, special tribute should be paid to the late Cyrus Guernsey 



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