122 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
structure intermediate between that of existing ferns and cycads. 
The results of this study of the structure of the vegetative organs 
indicated that this extinct group of plants was related to ferns 
on the one hand, and to cycads on the other. A result of far- 
reaching importance in relation to the physiological processes of 
living plants was obtained (1883) by Mr. Walter Gardiner, who 
proved that the cells composing the tissues of plants are not in- 
dependent, but that the living protoplasm of one cell is connected 
with adjacent cells by fine threads of protoplasm penetrating the 
cell wall. An investigation, extending over four years, was made 
by Mr. Horace T. Brown and Professor F. Escombe of some of the 
physiological processes of green leaves. It threw light on several 
points concerning the passage of carbonic acid into the leaf and of 
water-vapour from the leaf, the absorption of radiant energy by the 
leaf, and the manner in which it is expended. Mr. G. Massee’s re- 
searches deal with a large number of fungi, and developmental and 
experimental work connected with the numerous fungal diseases of 
plants. 
On the roll of notable women of the later Victorian era, the name 
of Marianne North will occupy, if not a foremost, at least an honoured 
Th N th P^ ace - She was born at Hastings in 1830, and her father, 
Mr. Frederick North, was at one time Member of Parlia- 
ment for that borough. From her early youth she 
devoted her talents to flower painting ; in later years it became 
the chief object and solace of her life. The picture gallery at Kew, 
her noble and enduring monument, is a remarkable illustration of 
what one woman’s genius, courage, and industry can accomplish. 
Every one of the 848 paintings it contains is the work of her hand. 
The great majority of them were painted, not only in the country, 
but usually on the spot where the plants grew wild. The whole of 
these pictures were done between the years 1872 and 1885, and for 
the purpose of painting them she successively visited the following 
countries: North America, West Indies (especially Jamaica), Brazil, 
Teneriffe, California, Japan, Borneo, Java, Singapore, Ceylon, India 
and the Himalaya. After her return from India, she determined 
to present her paintings to the nation, and arrangements were made 
to erect at her own cost the present gallery at Kew. But to make 
the collection more complete she visited Australia, Tasmania, and 
New Zealand. Returning to England in 1881 with the results of 
