Abstract
THANKS to the generosity of Sir MacPherson Robertson, a new building has just been completed in Melbourne for the housing of the National Herbarium collections, and the transfer of material is in progress. The building is a block, approximately 100 ft. by 80 ft., containing two floors. On the upper floor provision is made for the collections (numbering some 1,500,000 sheets) and for a library of more than 10,000 volumes. On the lower floor are a museum of economic botany, a laboratory, a lecture hall and the administrative offices. The construction is fire-proof throughout; all cabinets are of steel and the main door is guarded by fire-proof devices operating automatically when the temperature reaches a certain point. The collection was commenced about 1856 by the late Baron von Mueller, and it is intended to preserve the existing division into two sections (i) Australian and (ii) extra-Australian. The former is very complete and contains a number of type specimens. The room allotted to it is 60 ft. by 35 ft., allowing for 30 per cent expansion, or 55 per cent if further cabinets be installed. The extra-Australian section, which is already extensive and is continually growing by exchanges, will be housed in a room 80 ft. by 35 ft.
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The National Herbarium at Melbourne. Nature 135, 426 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135426c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135426c0