MUSEUMS 
129 
strong fibre of which the husk is composed, such as mats and matting, 
ropes and rough cord, hand-bags, and brushes. Finally, one may 
see various articles of dress and ornament made from one part or 
another by native races in the tropics. 
Whilst the cocoa-nut palm is the most important, the products 
of many other palms are here to be seen — the date palm, ivory palm, 
oil palm, and so on, — living specimens of which are in the Palm House. 
In this museum, also, are exhibited samples of the various cereals 
which constitute the staple food of northern races — wheat, barley, 
rye, and oats — as well as sugar and rice ; esparto grass, now so largely 
used for paper-making ; models of fungi, edible and poisonous ; 
and many other objects of singular interest obtained from the lower 
types of vegetation — seaweeds, lichens, ferns, and mosses. 
Museum No. lit is situated near the north end of the Broad Walk, 
and is the second building met with on entering the Gardens from 
Kew Green. It is mainly devoted to the exhibition of 
Museum of s P ec i mens °f timber, or to wooden articles of use and 
Timbers III ornamen E Every area of the globe where trees grow, 
whether temperate or tropical, has been drawn upon, 
and the specimens are arranged according to the geographical dis- 
tribution of the trees from which they were obtained. Whilst these 
constitute its largest and most important feature, the Museum 
also houses a very miscellaneous collection of interesting material. 
There is a comprehensive series of plans and views of Kew, both 
past and present, old and new. Many of the features in the Kew and 
Richmond gardens of the eighteenth century, now long disappeared, 
are here illustrated by old engravings, such as the “ New ” Palace, 
Kew House, Mosque, Hermitage, Merlin’s Cave, and other buildings. 
Some of these pictures have been reproduced for this work. Kew 
as it is to-day is also shown by many illustrations — notably by a 
series of fine photographs taken for the Paris Exhibition of 1900. 
There are several beautiful examples of Indian woodwork, and many 
other curious objects of art and nature are on view. In 1902 some 
sheds at the back of this museum were made into an annexe, with an 
opening into the main building at each end. This is devoted chiefly 
to the display of material connected with the natural order of conifers. 
A splendid collection of cones is an important adjunct to the Pinetum 
for the study of these trees. A similar collection of cones belonging 
to the allied, but mainly tropical, order of cycads is also shown, 
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