ANoVJe°mbe^9S5m-}  London  Botanic  Gardens.  523 
and  The  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States, 
serving  in  this  latter  body  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Governors 
of  the  War  Library  and  Museum. 
In  his  home,  the  place  he  loved  best,  surrounded  by  his  books, 
which  were  a  never-ending  source  of  pleasure,  interested  in  all  that 
pertained  to  those  around  him,  and  always  ready  to  give  good 
cheer  and  counsel  to  those  who  sought  help,  he  passed  the  declining 
years  of  his  useful  life  until,  on  June  24,  1 905,  death  claimed  him. 
He  has  entered  into  rest — a  useful  life  well  spent.  Forceful  in 
the  execution  of  what  he  believed  to  be  right,  sincere  in  his  convic- 
tions, courageous  in  misfortune,  happiest  when  deepest  in  his  be- 
loved work,  he  had  a  character  which  drew  to  him  friendships  of  life- 
long duration ;  and  though  at  last,  at  the  age  of  nearly  74  years,  the 
mortal  passed  quietly  away,  there  still  remains  to  those  who  knew 
him  the  spirit  of  the  man. 
LONDON  BOTANIC  GARDENS. 
By  Pierre  Bwe  Feux  Perredes,  B.Sc,  F.L.S., 
Pharmaceutical  Chemist. 
A  Contribution  from  the  Wellcome  Research  Laboratories,  London. 
{Continued from  p.  459.) 
The  botanical  history  of  Kew  Gardens  has  been  traced  to  the  col- 
lections of  exotic  plants  made  by  Lord  Capel  in  his  grounds  at  Kew, 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  not  until 
nearly  a  century  later,  however,  that  these  grounds  became  some- 
thing more  than  the  pleasure  gardens  of  a  private  mansion,  contain- 
ing a  collection  of"  curious  and  ornamental  plants  "  for  the  delecta- 
tion of  their  owners. 
For  us  the  history  of  Kew  begins  with  the  installation  of  William 
Aiton  as  chief  gardener  to  the  Princess  Augusta  in  1759.  With  the 
co-operation  of  her  scientific  advisor,  the  Earl  of  Bute,  this  princess 
fostered  the  scientific  development  of  Kew ;  and  from  Dr.  Hill's 
catalogue  of  plants  in  the  exotic  garden  of  Kew,  published  in  1768, 
or  nine  years  after  Aiton's  appointment,  we  are  able  to  perceive  that 
the  cultivation  of  exotic  plants  at  Kew  had  been  pursued  with  vigor. 
A  further  development  in  this  direction  occurred  in  1772,  when  the 
first  collector,  Francis  Masson,  was  sent  out  from  Kew  to  the  Cape. 
