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REPORT OF THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT BOTANIST. 202
on the native vegetation, to arrange for occasional Saturday afternoon
excursions of students and amateurs to botanically-interestiug spots in
the vicinity of the city.
Whatever may be the decision in reference to the organization of
the general Industrial Museum in the city, there should certainly be
spacious room in the Garden available as a store for objects of leading
plants of different parts of the globe. Such vegetable objects, like
those in Sir William Hooker's great institution of Kesv, could not be
more advantageously studied than in connection with the living plants
of the Garden or conservatories.
The timber, fibres, resins, gums, dyes, paper materials, drugs, oils,
alkalies, and many chemical educts from plants of Australia could be
contrasted with sinnlar products of other countries ; the processes of
manufacture and tlieir technological and commercial value be demon-
strated ; while subjects relatiug to culture of any kind could be eluci-
dated, diseases of plants by objects and drawings illustrated, and many
other kindred inquiries drawn into vitality of practical application.
Thus I may instance that it seems not generally knoAvn how our common
EucaJyplns leaves, under Ramel's process, can be converted into
cigars, or how the same leaves serve as a remedy in intermittent fever.
I herewith beg to submit the fourth volume of the work on all Aus-
tralian plants, elaborated, under my aid, by the President of the Lin-
nean Society. This volume brings the number of species already de-
scribed to nearly 5000. For the fifth volume, which is to embrace
mainly the MomclilamyclarB, the whole material in our IMuseum has
been preliminarily prepared. Hitherto, precisely fifty large cases of
museum plants, in 92.3 large fascicles, with notes, have been transmitted
on loan to Kew for the elaboration of this work, the collections here
accumidated, or furnished originally from hence, being more extensive
than the united former Herbaria of Australian plants in Britain.
We may reflect, not without pride, on the fact, that a similar de-
scriptive work exists not even yet for the vegetation of Europe, and
we may also remember that, without a work of this kind, the confused
vernacular appellations, and any medicinal, technological, cultural, or
other observations on the native plants, could not be reduced to a solid
scientific basis. R. Brown's celebrated ' Prodromus,' issued in ISIO,
comprised only about one-third of the Australian plants then know n,
and even the Orders elaborated in his volume have been augmented by
VOL. VII. [jULY 1, 1869.] Q