By Helen.
Science correspondent.
The image is from the Lindley Collections.
The image caption is.
The laboratories were used for a long time.
The old labs at the Royal Horticultural Society are recreated in a scene reminiscent of Antiques Roadshow, with various laboratory paraphernalia on tables.
There are familiar glass jars and test tube rack, as well as more obscure items, such as a wooden envelope for posting seedlings, which have no known uses.
The head of libraries and exhibitions at the site says that some of the "Heath Robinson or HG Wells-looking things" are homemade.
They range from a toastrack-like metal device to an incubator cut in half for demonstration purposes.
The image caption is.
The wooden box was used to post seeds.
The items are among almost 3000 historic artefacts uncovered during a massive clear-out of the labs ahead of the move this year to new purpose-built facilities on the hill.
Scientists and students used the Arts and Crafts style building to study plants, pests and pathogens. The history of science is a long and forgotten one.
"It's been the place where the RHS staff have been experimenting on plants and on growing techniques; understanding horticulture and then using that understanding to train the next generation of gardeners," says Fiona Davison.
The image is from the Lindley Collections.
The image caption is.
The old labs were where the horticulture students would attend lectures.
The public is being challenged to crack the mystery by the RHS.
They are releasing pictures of the items on social media in the hope that they can be identified and displayed when the building is re-opened.
Guy Barter, chief horticulturist at the RHS, says that the objects are layers of history. He's happy they've been saved.
He says it will be fascinating to go back through the records in the library and see if they can find out more about the projects they were built to support.
What was done with this? The object's function has stumped experts.
The function of this professional instrument is unknown.
The contraption seems to be a heating device for laboratory equipment.
The box was lined with metal. There is damage that points to an explosion.
There is horticulture.
The book is called Botany.
The environment.
