68 
EAST WING. 
Historical 
Collections in 
the Her- 
barium. 
Sir Joseph 
Banks. 
Herbarium of 
British 
Plants 
Sloane's 
Herbarium. 
The foundation of this great Herbarium was the~collection of 
Sir Joseph Banks, consisting of the plants obtained by himself 
and Dr. Solander in their voyage round the world with Captain 
Cook, and of numerous series from all quarters of the globe 
presented to him or purchased by him. He bequeathed all his 
botanical collections to the Trustees of the British Museum in 
1820, reserving to Eobert Brown, in whose charge they had 
been for years, the use of them during his lifetime. Mr. Brown 
transferred them to the Trustees of the Museum in 1827, and 
was appointed the first Keeper of the Department. The yearly 
additions since 1827 have been so extensive that the Banksian 
Collections form now but a small proportion of the whole 
Herbarium. In a brief notice it is impossible to give a correct 
idea of the richness of this Herbarium. Among the principal 
collections contained in it may be mentioned those of Clayton, 
Koemer, Miller, Brown, Bowie and Cunningham, Gardner, 
Nuttall, Horsfield, Konig, Martin, Masson, Wilson, Hampe, 
Broome, Seemann, Welwitsch, Salt, Miers, Hance, and Triana. 
It includes also authentic specimens received from Loureiro, 
Gronovius, Tournefort, Jacquin, Aublet, Euiz and Pavon, Per- 
rottet, and many others. 
There is a separate Herbarium of British plants, based on the 
collections formed by Sowerby in the preparation of his great 
work, 'English Botany.' This is, perhaps, the largest and 
most interesting public Herbarium of British plants, and its 
value is constantly increasing by additions from botanists who 
make the British Flora their special study. 
The extensive Herbarium formed by Sir Hans Sloane became 
the property of the nation in 1753, along with his other collec- 
tions. The plants gathered by himself in Jamaica formed the 
nucleus of this Herbarium, and to them were added the collections 
of Petiver, Buddie, Plukenet, Kaempfer, Kamel, Merrett, Boer- 
haave, Vaillant, Banister, and others. According to the practice 
of the time these plants were fastened on the leaves of large 
folio volumes, of which there are altogether 310. This collection 
had been placed in the library of the British Museum, and 
remained there until the establishment of the Department of 
Botany, when it was transferred to the care of Mr. Brown. The 
plants are well preserved, and are catalogued in a copy of 
