INTRODUCTION.
V
specimen of each kind of produce that could be procured in theUnited Kingdom .
The amount of information which this Catalogue contains isvarious, and depends upon what was furnished by the contributors.Reference is also made to the Official Descriptive and Illus-trated Catalogue of the Exhibition of 1851, and to the Reportsof the Juries, copies of which are added to the Collection.( Tray L.)
As it is, each contributor has been called upon to send suchsamples of the articles exhibited by him in 1851 as he consideredmost desirable should be known in foreign countries, and it is con-sidered that such is the best criterion of their utility to the countriesto which they are sent. In many cases the specimens, which havein all cases been furnished gratuitously, can have no reference to anycommercial advantage ; and in those the public spirit which inducedthe contributors to wish to take part in the undertaking will alsodoubtless prove a security for the specimens being good of theirkind. On the whole, it is considered that, as far as the very limitedextent of these collections will allow, they are a fair representationof the raw produce of the United Kingdom .
The following is a list of the countries to which these collectionshave been sent:—