Evening star., 1903-08-25
PHILIPPINE FLORA
STUDY TAKEN UP By THE NEW
YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN,
A Work Which Will Require Twenty
Years to Complete-Inter-
esting Plants

1 SS~AA6 = A"AS0s
| From the New York Evening Post.
During the present month the New York
| botanical garden has been initiating a
work which will probably occupy it's at
| tention for twenty years to come. This is
| the botanical exploration of the Philip
| pines. for which R. 8. Williams, who re-
| Gently returned from similar work in Bo-
| livia. will leave shortly. Mr.. Williams will
remain two or three years before taking his
| first vacation. AS the work develops, skill
ed assistants may join him. but at present
he will work with native aid alone.
The Philippines offer almost unex-
plored field to botanists The Spanish
scientists looked about a little, and wrote
| one book. and recently the commissioner of
| agriculture made some collections. There
| are more than one thousand islands in the
| archipelago, extending through many de-
| grees of latitude. differing in soil and ci-
| mate They may prove to differ widely
In hora as the West Indies no two of which
| are alike. Thorough botanical exploration
| OF the islands would require an extended
period. but fair representation may be
OBTAINED In fifteen or twenty years. D. o.
Mills and others have provided the fund
Tor the purpose. This will for some years
| be the most extensixe exploration scheme
| carried on by the garden.
| Work in West Indies.
| Work in the West Indies will. however.
continue to occupy large share of the at
tention of the garden for the next ten years,
| as 1t has for the last three or four DR..
| br1tton. director of the museum makes fire.
| Quent short trips to different parts of the
region ior the purpose of gaining COM
prehensfve oversight Of the whole field,
| While others spend longer periods in more
| detailed exploration. DR.. Marshall A. Howe
mas lust returned from collecting trip in
| Porto Rico. Prof. F. E. Lloyd of Teach
ers' College is spending three months in
| dominica. DIR. McDougal during a recent
trip arranged with the director of the pub
| nc gardens of Jamaica for collection of
| 5.OOO duplicates. containing MANY rare and
| valuable specimens for which dunJica to
| material at the New York garden will be
! forwarded in exchange from time to time
VIII probably be ten years before DR..
| Br1tton will be ready to prepare a flora of
| the region. Funds for the exploration of
Porto Rico We're left by the late Cornelius
vanderbilt. and interest in the whole region
~ so general that funds for it's exploration
ranging from So to $500.
Explorations in Porto Rico.
DR.. Howe devoted himself entirely to sea
plants during his recent visit to Porto Rico.
ms is held almost totally unexplored in
That island. Only one paper has ever been
published upon it. one by a German botan
| ist In 1888 Since then two small collections
nave been made for the garden which are
as YET unstudied. A good deal of novelty
may be discovered. therefore in the marine
a!gae OF Porto Rico, although the sea
plants naturally do not vary so widely as
the land plants among the different islands
| For the first time in his experience as a
| collector DIR. Howe was able to use What
ne describes as the bathing suit method ("
| lhe waters about the island are SO warm
that ne was able to work in them for hours
! Yon {v,,y~ IL I'M
| California, or the Bermudas. His richest
hnds were made in the neighborhood of San
Juan. Here the shore offers all the condi-
| tiOus beloved of sea plants: Coral reefs
surf-heaten lttoral rocks, beaches nearly
| enclosed bays and lagoons and mangrove
swamps He remained four weeks and
! then LETT without having covered all the
| promising coast within easy reach of the
capital He visited also points on the west
ern and southern coasts, and brought home
| 800 specimens in all.
| West Indian Seaweeds.
One of the curious things about these
| west Indian seaweeds to the lay observer
is the number which have the power of Sc
| creting lime. They cannot be distinguished
| from coral by the unframed eye and even
| scientl1c travellers have made the same mis-
| take Their branching stems look exactly
| like clusters of pink or white coral; but on
cutting the growth open 1t Is found to he
| vegetable and not animal. These limy sea
weeds help their little coral cousins to build
| up the coral reefs. They are all more or
less rosy In hue presenting a very attract
| i've appearance In the water, but fade
gradually to white on the museum shelves
some or the specimens brought by DR..
Howe make most interesting additions to
| the public exhibit. One called the sea
bottle" Is a collection of bladder-Iike bodies
full of watery protoplasm. 1t is green and
| 1ridescent. but is gradually becoming trans
| lucent in the case. Another grows in the
shape OF fan. and the "mermaid's Wine-
| glass" Is covered with dainty little white
cups. slightly coated with frosty lime. The
"mermatds shaving brush" exactly resem-
bles the useful article for which 1t is named
| There are all sorts of fairy-like feathery
little things and small tree-like growths,
| like little pine trees. not large enough for
dolls garden. These are called "sea
spruces' at the museum. which supplies
| popular as well as scientific names when
both are lacking.
Anchored in the Sand.
| Many of these weeds are anchored to the
! sand. bunch Of which they bring away
with them grasped in their tenacious, tiny
| filaments. These filaments are not roots at
| all. They absorb no nourishment from the
sand being simply threads to tie the plant
down. Nearly all the seaweeds are at
! tached to the rocks or sand. the salient ex-
| ception being the famous sargassum float
| ing masses Of which are met throughout
| tropical waters. The Sargasso sea is so
| ndneo from tne Quantlty OF this weed found
| there. and one of the most entertaining
| tales Of adventure ever written was based
| on the alleged fact that all the wrecks and
derelicts left afloat since the beginning of
ocean navigation had been brought by slow
| revolving currents eventually to entangle
| themselves in the clinging fingers of the
sargassum. The dry sargassum looks as
II 1t were covered with dark maroon berries
These little bodies when broken are found
perfectly empty. They are not berries, but
bladders. which the plant puts forth to en-
able 1t to float. When afoat it seems to
propagate by fragmentation. When at
| tached to the rocks 1t follows more conven-
uonal methods Of reproduction.
THE MASSACHUSETTS, CAMPAIGN.
Republicans Are Lining Up for the