18 
GENERAL. 
112 —Work in the Herbarium.-— On taking over charge of the 
Gardens, one of mv first duties was to ascertain the nature of their 
contents; a catalogue purporting to be a list of plants contained in the 
Gardens was published in 1879, and a supplement in 1880 ; and on taking- 
over charge in November of year last nambd, it might have been expected, 
that I should have but little trouble in arriving at a correct idea of their 
contents. But on my referring to the Catalogue for the names of the 
trees they could not to be found : I next sought for the plants contained 
in the list, and with the exception of a few was equally unsuccessful. 
318. — Of the few plants labelled on the lawns fully one half were 
wrongly named ; many of them being labelled with names of plants not 
to he found in the Gardens. Having enquired as to the manner in 
which the Catalogue of 1879 had been compiled, I have been informed 
that it was drawn up from list of plants contained in the record of Wardian 
cases received, which contains the list of receipts, but does not account for 
the plants that may have died, or seeds which may not have grown. 
114. — The supplement published in 1880 was founded chiefly upon 
lists of names of specimen received from Kew, and my since having found 
the great number of these, not in the Gardens, but in the outside jungles, 
there is strong reason for believing that the specimens sent to Kew had 
been collected there. 
115. — The work which thus presented itself as necessary to be under- 
taken before the Garden collection could be placed on a satisfactory foot- 
ing as regards labelling was certainly not of a trifling nature. My first 
attack was to grub up all the labels of plants which 1 knew to be wrongly 
named, and next to determine microscopically the remainder of the 
collection as far as possible. The Garden contents have been now labelled 
almost throughout ; the few not yet named are those which have not 
flowered and consequently not supplied the necessary material for their 
determination. 
110. — As the work of naming of the plants progressed, every day 
revealed some new discovery of plants not hitherto known to exist within 
the Garden boundary, and these have now multiplied to such an extent, 
that it has been considered advisable to suppress altogether the catalogues- 
mentioned and to issue a new and more reliable production. The compi- 
lation of which is in hand. 
His Excellency the Governor having ordered early in the year, that 
a Report on the Forests should be drawn up with as ranch despatch as- 
possible, the work was early proceeded with ; during its progress 300 
herbarium determinations were made of plants from the hitherto 
little known jungles of the Settlements, the names of which will be 
found in Appendices to forest report, with corresponding local names 
as far as possible. This work led to the discovery of some new plants, 
as also, did the naming of the Garden collection. 
11 7-. — The New Herbarium, however, was at this time not yet erected, 
the work was chiefly accomplished in a room in the Superintendent's 
quarters which 1 had converted into an Herbarium. The Director of the 
Royal Gardens, Kew, also kindly sent a list of names of things forwarded 
him during my forest inspection tour, many of which, from the nature of 
the circumstance at the time, were but very roughly prepared. 
• 
118.- — The report on forests being completed, an investigation intq 
the source of the Rubber supply of the Peninsula was next taken in 
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