Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
February,  1906.  J 
London  Botanic  Gardens, 
71 
The  Administration  of  Kew  and  its  Work. 
The  government  of  Kew  is,  so  to  speak,  a  dual  function.  In  all 
administrative  matters  the  Director  is  subordinate  to  the  Board  of 
Agriculture.  The  direction  and  organization  of  the  scientific  work 
of  the  establishment,  on  the  other  hand,  devolve  upon  the  Director, 
whose  powers  in  this  direction  are  absolute.  Previous  to  the 
deliberations  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Scientific  Instruction  and 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  generally  known  as  the  "  Devonshire 
Commission"  (1871-1875),  the  functions  of  the  Director  had  not 
been  clearly  defined,  but  in  July,  1872,  the  relations  of  the  Director 
of  Kew  to  the  First  Commissioner  of  Works  and  Public  Buildings 
were  defined  as  above  by  a  Treasury  minute.  The  Government 
department  has  since  then  undergone  reorganization,  but  its  rela- 
tions to  Kew  have  not  been  materially  altered.  It  has  already  been 
stated  that  when  Kew  was  converted  into  a  public  institution  it  was 
placed  under  the  department  of  Woods  and  Forests.  This  Govern- 
ment department  was  instituted  in  18 10,  and  until  1 831  its  con- 
stituents were  known  as  "  Commissioners  of  Woods,  Forests,  and 
Land  Revenues " ;  they  were  replaced  by  the  "  Commissioners  of 
Woods,  Forests,  Land  Revenues,  Works  and  Buildings"  from  1832 
to  1850,  and  subsequently  the  department  was  divided  into  the 
"First  Commissioner  of  Works  and  Public  Buildings"  and  the 
"  Commissioners  of  Woods,  Forests,  and  Land  Revenues,"  Kew 
falling  under  the  former.  The  Board  of  Agriculture  was  established 
by  the  act  of  1899,  and,  by  an  Order  on  Council  of  March  28,  1903, 
Kew  was  transferred  to  it  from  the  department  of  the  First  Com- 
missioner  of  Works  and  Public  Buildings. 
The  Director's  staff  of  officers  is  constituted  as  follows : 
(a)  Assistant  Director.  This  post  has  been  irregularly  occupied, 
and  is  at  present  unfilled. 
(b)  The  Curator  of  the  Gardens,  who  has  charge  of  the  living 
collections.    There  are  two  assistant  curators. 
(c)  The  Keeper  of  the  Herbarium  and  Library  (eight  assistants). 
(d)  The  Keeper  of  the  Museums  (one  assistant). 
(e)  The  Honorary  Keeper  of  the  Jodrell  Laboratory,  who  is,  in  a 
sense,  its  director,  the  workers  in  this  laboratory  not  being,  as  a  rule, 
on  the  regular  staff  at  Kew.  Permission  from  the  Director  of  Kew 
is,  however,  an  essential  prerequisite  for  admission. 
