KEW GARDENS 
277 
Dr. Brandis worked at Kew for a couple of years in the 
preparation of a hand-book of the timber trees of the North¬ 
west provinces; and one has been written for the Madras 
Presidency by Colonel Beddome, and one for Burmah by 
Dr. Kurz. A most valuable general handbook of all the 
Indian timbers has lately been published by Mr. J. S. 
Gamble, in which 906 species belonging to 432 genera are 
included. In the American forest there are over 400 different 
species; in Britain only about forty. 
Summary. 
To sum up, then, I would say that, to understand 
properly what is to be seen at Kew, a visitor must bear in 
mind that four separate and more or less distinct objects are 
aimed at, and that the different departments fit into one 
another closely and work together hand in hand along four 
more or less distinct grooves. Firstly, the Gardens are a 
holiday resort for a large mass of the general non-scientific 
public. Secondly, they aim at helping horticulture by 
exhibiting in a living state a series of the principal types 
of structure, and by furnishing a means of identifying the 
plants that come into the country. Thirdly, they aim at 
promoting systematic botany by furnishing a means of 
identifying the plants, more especially of the British 
possessions abroad, or of those collected by British expeditions 
or private travellers in other parts of the world. And 
fourthly, the establishment has its economic sphere of use¬ 
fulness, on which I have already fully expatiated. About the 
Laboratory and the Picture Gallery I have said nothing, but 
the uses of these need no explanation. 1 think the main draw¬ 
back which all the officers of the establishment more or less 
feel is that amidst this crowd of aims and the vast mass of 
details, it is impossible for them to concentrate their attention 
upon any one thing for any considerable length of time.* 
* Since this valuable paper was read the authorities of the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, have issued a monthly serial, in which is given 
information similar in nature to that given above. This serial is 
entitled a “Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information.” The first 
number was published in January, 1887, and was prefaced with the 
following:— 
“Notice.— It is proposed to issue from time to time, as an 
occasional publication, notes too detailed for the Annual Report on 
Economic Products and Plants, to which the attention of the Staff of 
the Royal Gardens has been drawn in the course of ordinary corres¬ 
pondence, or which has been made the subject of particular study at 
Kew. It is hoped that while these notes will serve the purpose of an 
expeditious mode of communication to the numerous correspondents 
of Kew in distant parts of the Empire, they may also be of service to 
