Public appreciation of the natural beauties of the Garden, and of the phases of botany illustrated by its collections has been most gratifying, as shown by the great and constantly increasing number of visitors. The series of popular lectures given in the museum on Saturday afternoons have been well attended. The Journal of the Garden, which serves as a means of communication with its members, brings to the notice of its readers interesting facts in botany, horticulture and forestry, and records a constantly swelling list of gifts of books, specimens and plants. The library, herbarium and laboratories have been open for only a few months, yet twenty-two students have taken advantage of the facilities thus afforded during the collegiate year now closing. Investigations of importance have been carried forward by these students, by members of the staff, and by the members of the staff of Columbia University. The results of some of these investigations have been published in the Bulletin of the Garden, which also contains the official reports of the organization. Papers written by members of the staff or students are reprinted from the periodicals in which they appear as contributions, while a fourth series of Memoirs has been found necessary for the presentation of papers of great length. Not the least important of the investigating functions of a garden consists in its participation in the exploration of remote or unknown parts of the world in an effort to obtain a better knowledge of the plant population of the earth. During the brief period of its activity the Garden has already carried out work of this character in the Rocky Mountains and in Porto Rico. [Illustration: HORTICULTURAL HOUSES.] The ordinary work of the Garden is maintained by the income from its endowment fund, by the annual dues of its members (now numbering over eight hundred) and by an annual appropriation by the City. Its board of managers is authorized to hold and administer trust funds, and it is hoped by the aid of gifts or bequests for special or general purposes to expand its usefulness in directing investigation. Already it has been favored by a bequest of a considerable sum of money by the late ex-Chief Justice Charles P. Daly, which may be devoted to any purpose determined by the board of managers. GAS AND GAS METERS. BY HUBERT S. WYNKOOP, M. E. What is the matter with our illuminating gas? Why is its quality so poor? Why is it that our bills are creeping up, in spite of the fact that the rate per thousand cubic feet is going down? These are questions that periodically recur to the mind of every householder.