128 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS. KEW 
to point to any single use to which plants are put which is not in some 
way illustrated here. Even the modest genius of some rural Izaak 
Walton, who adapted blackthorn spines into fish-hooks, does not 
go unrecognised. Curious facts connected with various products 
are brought out, such, for instance, as the packing of Paraguay tea 
by South Americans in the skins of animals, here illustrated by an 
entire skin of the great ant-eater packed with this substance. Ravages 
by insects are shown by specimens of the insect itself, an explanation 
of its life-history, and examples of the damage done. 
Of miscellaneous objects, the most important is a collection of 
portraits of famous botanists. The nucleus of this collection was 
formed by Sir William Hooker, and was purchased after his death 
by the Government. It consists of oil-paintings, miniatures, drawings, 
engravings, medallions, photographs, and marble busts. There are 
many models of plants, flowers, and fruits, the most remarkable of 
which is a model of the flower of Rafflesia Arnoldi, a strange parasitic 
plant found in the depths of Sumatran forests. The flower is three 
feet in diameter, of circular form, and has thick fleshy petals. 
Museum No. II., being devoted chiefly to monocotyledonous plants, 
is largely occupied by purely tropical products. Owing to the 
irregular construction of the building, the shape and 
arrangement of the cases are different from those of 
No. I. ; nor are they of a uniform type. Of all tropical 
trees, palms are the most important, affording, as they do, food, 
drink, shelter, and clothing to the native races of the countries in 
which they grow. They naturally occupy, therefore, more space in 
this Museum than any other family. 
The methods of illustration are the same as in No. I. Museum, 
and no better example can be taken than the cocoa-nut palm. Here 
are pictures showing the tree as it grows near the sea in tropical 
countries, also a portion of the trunk and a bunch of nuts in 
their husks just as they come from the tree. Then come examples 
of the almost innumerable things made from this most valuable 
of all palms. There are samples of cocoa-nut oil, with soap and 
candles made of it ; sugar and vinegar made from the sap of the 
tree ; walking-sticks and ornamental articles from the wood ; various 
toys and utensils, such as teapots, cups, and ladles, from the shell 
of the nut ; and samples of the kernels, now largely used in con- 
fectionery. There still remain the many articles made from the 
Museum 
No. II. 
