BOTANIC GARDEN (ante) of Harvard university was founded in 1805, in March; William Dandridge Peck was chosen professor. Ile began to lay out the garden, but the next year went to Europe to examine similar institutions. There was a scarcity of money, and the garden lang,uished for years. It was in charge (about 1822) of Thomas an Euglish botanist, who, in 1833, suddenly deserted his post to make a tour •cross the continent and to the Sandwich islands. In 1842, Dr. Asa Gray was appointed Fisher professor of natural history, on the endow ment given by Dr. Fisher of Beverly. In a study was built for a herbarium, and used for botanical instructions, In 1857 e new and larger conservatory was built. In 1864, the herbarium was erected, the gift of Nathaniel Thayer. After much exertion, the establishment was practically completed in 1871 by the fitting up of a leetnre-room and laboratory, and an extension of the con servatory, thus connecting the lierb.arium on one side and the conservatory cm flip other into a continuous range, and affording the means of giving the whole botanicl] instruction throughout the year at the garden, in connection with the materials and col lections which illustrated it. A fine botanic garden is connected with the department
of agriculture at Washington, and there are others more or less important in various parts of the country.
At Buitenzorg, in the island of Java, near the foot of Mt. Salak, are botanic gardens which have been called the finest in the world. Ilere one can wander for hours through avenues of every kind of tropical palm. The orchids are a splendid collection, containing specimens of nearly every known kind of lxlia, dendrobium, eria, bolbo phylluin, cypripedinm, and a host of others.
There are huge Ueda of ferns; plantations of gigantic yucca and pandantis, inter spersed with dramenre and eucharis; a forest of tree ferns, many of them upward of 30 ft. high; with bamboo avenues, and nearly every palm. Arnow them grow enormous creepers, one of which winds in circles about the ground, and then goes over a palm tree and down again, upward of 300 ft. long; 70 yards alone are on the ground.