230  London  Botanic  Gardens.  {AmMaya906arm* 
constitution  of  the  Garden  Committee.  The  services  of  the  members 
of  the  committee  were,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  gratuitously 
rendered  at  first,  but  in  1776  it  was  directed  that  each  member 
should  be  allowed  five  shillings  for  every  attendance.  Refreshments 
were  also  provided  at  the  Society's  expense,  and,  in  iySo,  the  sum 
of  £$  was  fixed  as  the  allowance  for  refreshments  at  each  meeting. 
In  1 8 10  the  regular  meetings  were  ordered  to  be  held  in  April,  June, 
August  and  September,  and  the  "  refreshments "  at  the  meetings 
eventually  took  the  form  of  dinners  held  in  the  garden.  In  1853 
both  the  fees  and  the  dinners  were  abolished,  and  even  the  Garden 
Committee  itself  ceased  to  exercise  its  functions  for  a  time.  Indeed, 
although  the  Garden  Committee  is  said  to  have  resumed  its  proceed- 
ings after  a  short  interval,  there  is  little  evidence  to  show  that  it 
was  in  existence  until  1862  when  it  was  galvanized  into  a  semblance 
of  life,  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Nathaniel  Bagshaw  Ward. 
After  Ward's  death  in  1868  we  again  look  in  vain  for  evidence  of 
life  in  the  Garden  Committee,  and  most  of  the  administrative  work 
appears  to  have  been  undertaken  by  the  Court  of  Assistants. 
The  rules  framed  by  the  governing  body  for  observance  by  the 
Demonstrator  of  Plants  and  Prcefectus  Horti  are  among  its  most 
important  enactments,  and  we  will  now  proceed  to  consider  them. 
The  duties  of  the  office  of  Demonstrator  of  Plants  had,  as  we  have 
seen,  been  defined  in  general  terms  on  the  appointment  of  Isaac 
Rand  to  that  office  in  1724,  but  it  was  not  until  1773,  when  William^ 
Curtis  was  elected  to  the  post,  that  these  duties  were  set  forth  in 
detail.  This  set  of  instructions  has  already  been  referred  to  else- 
where, and  several  of  its  clauses  have  been  dealt  with  in  detail.  The 
terms  of  the  remainder  still  remain  to  be  considered,  and  were  as 
follows : — 
"  The  office  of  Botanical  Demonstrator  to  this  Society,  is  to 
superintend  their  garden  and  gardener,  as  also  their  library,  and  all 
other  matters  upon  their  premises  at  Chelsea;  but  with  submission 
always  to  the  superior  direction  of  the  General  Committee  for  the 
management  of  the  Society's  Garden.  His  duty  is  to  encourage 
and  cultivate  the  knowledge  of  Botany,  theoretic  as  well  as  practi- 
cal, among  the  students  of  this  Society  ;  for  which  purpose, 
"          He  is  to  attend  the  Society's  Garden  at  stated  times,  not 
less  than  once  in  every  summer  month,  (from  April  to  September, 
both  inclusive)  to  demonstrate  the  plants,  especially  in  the  officinal 
