^ovemb^SS1-}  London  Botanic  Gardens,  525 
Kew  has,  by  virtue  of  its  advantages,  accumulated  an  extensive  her- 
barium and  unique  collections  of  economic  products,  and  it  possesses 
a  staff  of  experts  as  well  as  a  comprehensive  library.  We  find,  as  a 
result,  that  the  Colonial  establishments  have  come  to  consider  Kew 
in  the  light  of  a  central  bureau  of  information  on  matters  of  cultural 
and  botanical  import,  and  in  response  to  this  feeling  a  "  Bulletin  of 
Miscellaneous  Information  "  was  issued  periodically  from  Kew  dur- 
ing a  period  of  thirteen  years  (1887-1899).  But  this  is  not  all,  for 
Kew,  at  the  request  of  the  Government,  has  from  time  to  time 
directly  carried  out  important  undertakings  for  the  especial  benefit 
of  the  Colonies,  such  as  the  introduction  of  cinchona  into  India,  the 
investigation  of  the  coffee  disease  in  Ceylon,  and  the  inquiry  into  the 
economic  resources  of  the  West  Indies  by  the  former  assistant  direc- 
tor, Sir  Daniel  Morris,  K.C.M.G.,  who  is  now  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture for  Barbadoes,  the  Leeward  and  the  Windward  Islands. 
The  demand  for  men  trained  at  Kew  led  to  the  adoption,  in  1874, 
of  a  course  of  systematic  instruction  similar  to  that  initiated  forty- 
eight  years  previously  by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  in  its  gar- 
dens at  Chiswick,  and  this  training  of  gardeners  constitutes  the  only 
direct  educational  work  that  has  ever  been  undertaken  at  Kew.  In- 
directly, however,  Kew  has  been  instrumental  in  promoting  the 
teaching  of  botany  in  other  institutions,  as  the  following  examples 
will  testify:  It  is  to  the  ex-Director  of  Kew,  Sir  Joseph  Hooker, 
that  we  are  indebted  for  one  of  the  most  authoritative  text-books  on 
the  flora  of  these  islands,  viz.,  "  The  Student's  Flora  of  the  British 
Islands."  The  "  Primer  of  Botany,"  by  the  same  author,  has  also 
done  much  to  encourage  the  teaching  of  botany  in  elementary 
schools,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  "  Elementary  Lessons  in 
Botany,"  from  the  pen  of  Prof.  Daniel  Oliver,  who  was  formerly 
Keeper  of  the  Herbarium  at  Kew  and  Professor  of  Botany  at  Univer- 
sity College.  The  formation,  in  1880,  of  a  students'  garden,  in 
which  students  were  allowed  to  gather  specimens,  was  as  its  name 
implies,  designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  botanical  student;  and 
the  supply,  from  time  to  time,  of  cut  specimens  to  a  number  of 
schools  and  colleges  has  also  subserved  educational  ends.  It  must 
be  noted,  however,  that  the  work  accomplished  by  Kew  in  this  di- 
rection has  been  largely  adventitious  in  character,  and  has  of  later 
years  been  relegated  to  the  Chelsea  Physic  Garden  and  to  the  Gar- 
dens in  Regent's  Park,  as  evidenced  by  the  suppression  of  the 
