Page:Allan Octavian Hume, C.B.; Father of the Indian National Congress.djvu/133



"In 1910 Mr. Hume purchased the freehold premises, No. 323 Norwood Road, S.E., and adapted them for the reception of his herbarium and Hbrary, and the garden fitted for growing the remaining alien plants required for the herbarium. The whole establishment was removed there in November of that year, and the freehold premises, with the herbarium, library, and all appliances and furni- ture, and a capital endowment to provide an income sufficient to maintain the establishment, were vested in trustees and incorporated under the title of * The South London Botanical Institute,' with the object, as stated in the registered articles of association, of ' promoting, encouraging, and facilitating, amongst the residents of South London, the study of the science of botany.'

"Mr. Hume had strong objections to advertising, and more especially to advertise his own bounty ; and for that reason would have no public opening of the institute, but he somewhat reluctantly consented to the issue of a prospectus to natural history and kindred societies informing them that the herbarium and library were available for the use of their members gratis. When I first became Mr. Hume's assistant he impressed upon me the fact that, as a rule, the preparation of plants for herbarium specimens was done in an inartistic and some- times slovenly manner, whereas there was no reason why every sheet should not be made to look like a picture. He instructed me in his own painstaking method of laying out and pressing specimens, which I have adopted and passed on to the members of our staff who now perform the work. The following incident illustrates the result. With Mr. Hume's full approbation I have for several years exhibited a selection of our specimens