BOTANY  IN  ITS  BEARINGS  ON  PHARMACY,  ETC. 
235 
in  walks  and  beds, — the  eastern  end  like  our  Washington  Square,  the 
western  end  less  formally.  It  is  much  resorted  to  by  the  population,  and 
is  well  kept. 
But  all  these  gardens  are  greatly  inferior  in  extent  to  those  of  Kew, 
near  London,  which  are  appropriately  named  the  Royal  Gardens,  as  the 
whole  establishment  is  supported  on  the  most  liberal  scale  by  the  Govern- 
ment. Situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  about  thirteen  miles  above 
London,  they  have  long  been  under  the  supervision  of  eminent  botanists, 
and  especially  since  1841,  when  Sir  William  J.  Hooker  assumed  the  di- 
rectorship, succeeded  in  1865  by  his  son,  Dr.  Joseph  D.  Hooker,  the 
present  Diiector.  Originally  a  part  of  the  grounds  of  Kew  palace,  eleven 
acres  in  extent,  the  gardens  have  been  enlarged  by  grant  after  grant, 
until  at  present  the  scientific  portion  of  the  ground  embraces  75  acres, 
adjacent  to  which  are  the  "  pleasure  grounds  or  arboretum,"  of  270  acies. 
and  other  extensive  parks.  The  buildings  for  botanical  purposes  are  on 
the  most  extensive  .scale.  The  largest  of  these  is  the  palm  house,  or 
"  stove,"  as  it  is  called,  completed  in  1848.  It  is  362  feet  long,  100  feet 
wide  in  the  centre,  and  62  feet  high.  It  is  constructed  of  irou  work  and 
glass  mainly,  and  contains  45,000  square  feet  of  glazing,  has  a  gallery  30 
feet  high  for  visitors  to  view  the  palms  from  above,  is  heated  by  hot 
water  by  means  of  tanks  and  pipes,  of  which  about  24,000  feet  are  used 
in  the  building,  distributed  under  the  shelves  and  floor,  and  operated  by 
means  of  vast  furnaces  under  the  building,  the  flues  of  which  are  carried 
underground  500  feet  to  a  stack  of  chimnies  in  the  square  tower,  a  struc- 
ture connected  with  the  water  supply  of  the  gardens.  In  this  fine  build- 
ing one  needs  help  of  but  little  imagination  to  fancy  himself  in  the  tropics, 
so  completely  is  the  equatorial  flora  represented.  The  cocoanut  palm, 
the  betel  nut,  the  date  palm,  the  palm  oil  tree  of  Africa,  the  ivory  nut 
tree  of  New  Grenada,  the  banana  and  plantain,  the  bamboo,  the  banyan 
fig,  the  tamarind,  the  coffee,  allspice,  pepper,  sugar  cane,  mango  and 
numerous  others  less  generally  known,  are  found,  with  many  smaller 
plants  appropriate  to  a  tropical  landscape. 
The  tropical  house,  No.  VII,  presents  great  interest  to  the  pharma- 
ceutist from  the  number  of  important  medicinal  plants  it  contains,  such 
as  aloes,  annatto,  arrow  root,  bael,  balsam  Peru  tree,  quassia,  camphor, 
theobroma,  cinnamon,  cloves,  ginger,  indigo,  ipecacuanha,  logwood,  ma- 
tico,  nutmeg,  patchouli,  cinchona  (four  species],  sandal  wood,  sarsapa- 
rilla,  tonqua  bean,  and  Wintersbark. 
Near  the  centre  of  the  pleasure  grounds  is  "  the  new  temperate  house," 
an  immense  structure  not  yet  completed,  but  perfect  as  far  as  it  goes,  and 
containing  a  great  variety  of  Australian  plants,  especially  eucalypti  and 
acacias,  Chinese  and  Japanese,  New  Zealand,  Chilian,  and  East  Indian 
plants.  This  house,  with  its  octagonal  appendages  and  those  yet  to  be 
added,  will  embrace  nearly  two  acres  under  glass,  and  brings  together  a 
large  nmber  of  important  genera. 
