AmAP°rur;i9oh6arm'}  London  Botanic  Gardens.  181 
lowing  : — £$  per  annum  were  to  be  paid  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane  or  his 
heirs  forever  ;  "  fifty  specimens  of  distinct  plants,  well  dried  and 
preserved,  which  grew  in  their  garden  the  same  year,  with  their 
names  or  reputed  names,"  were  to  be  delivered  yearly  to  the  "  Presi- 
dent, Council  and  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London  "  until 
the  number  of  two  thousand  had  been  attained,  and  "  those  pre- 
sented in  each  year  "  were  "  to  be  specifically  different  from  [those 
of]  every  former  year  ;"  no  other  buildings  but  those  legitimately 
connected  with  a  physic  garden  were  to  be  erected,  but  the  barge- 
house  was  allowed  to  remain.  In  the  case  of  non-fulfilment  of  these 
conditions  by  the  Society  of  Apothecaries,  Sir  Hans  Sloane  or  his 
heirs  were  empowered  to  enter  into  possession  of  the  garden  and 
to  hold  it  in  trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  Royal  Society,  or,  failing  this, 
of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  on  conditions  similar  to  those 
imposed  on  the  Society  of  Apothecaries.  Power  was  also  reserved 
for  the  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  Royal  Society  and  of 
the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  to  visit  the  garden  "  once  or 
oftener  in  every  year  "  to  ascertain  whether  the  conditions  specified 
were  "  duly  observed  and  complied  with  "  by  the  Society  of  Apothe- 
caries. These  conditions  have,  on  the  whole,  been  faithfully  com- 
plied with  by  the  Society,  but  payment  of  the  annual  rent  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  enforced  by  either  Sir  Hans  Sloane  or  his 
heirs.  The  annual  delivery  of  plants  to  the  Royal  Society  seems  to 
have  taken  place  at  irregular  intervals,  but  the  condition  as  to  num- 
ber was  more  than  fulfilled,  for  with  the  last  presentation,  in  1794, 
a  total  of  (at  least)  2550  specimens  had  been  attained. 
The  members  of  the  Society  having  come  into  permanent  possession 
of  the  garden,  they  directed  their  energies  toward  its  reorganization. 
A  committee  was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  administration,  and, 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  committee,  the  gardener  then  in 
charge  was  dismissed  1  and  Philip  Miller  chosen  in  his  place.  The 
post  which  the  latter  so  honorably  filled  was  occupied  uninter. 
ruptedly  until  1887  by  the  following  in  succession:  Philip  Miller, 
F.R.S.  (1722-1770);   William  Forsyth,  F.L.S.  (1770-1784);  John 
1  Tradition  had  it  that  he  was  Philip  Miller's  own  father,  but  Mr.  Barrett 
has  discovered  an  entry  in  the  Society's  records  giving  his  name  as  Charles 
Gardiner.  Henry  Field,  writing  in  1820,  made  the  statement  that  the  records 
of  the  Society  were  silent  upon  the  subject. 
