The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-07
THE PLANTS or GUAM.

| for a little rock In the remote Pacific. fhe
National Museum has just printed a large
octave Of more than 900 pages entitled The
Useful Plants Of the Island Of Guam" The
title is not quite adequate, for the book
includes a description Of every kind Of
plant that has been found on the Island
Only a few lines are given 10 many
varieties. but the descriptive catalogue
covers 234 pages Of small type.
The minute study given TO the hoTa Of
Guam was almost accidental. Mr.. W. +.
Stafford. botanist and Lieutenant In our
navy, improved the opportunity given by
four years Of cruising In the Pacific 10 study
the botany and the natives Of several Of
the Island group II happened that in
the year ending In August, 1900, he was
Assistant Governor Of Guam. and this book
Is the result Of the elaboration Of the notes
and observations he had an opportunity to
make. He also had exceptional facilities
for studying the archives Of Guam, and Mr.
Colville, curator Of the National Herb
arium, says in the preface that Mr.. Sahord's
account In this book of the discovery,
early history and exploration Of the island
together with It's climate, ethnology and
economic conditions. affords the most
comprehensive and authentic picture Of
Guam thus far published
In the light Of this book II is easy to see
how island after island may have derived
it's vegetation from the dispersal Of seeds
drifting on the ocean currents. On the
sandy beaches Of the east coast Of Guam
there is always a line Of drift that Is rich
in seeds, fruits OF various kinds and drift
wood that have come ashore. Many Of the
seeds are dead, but some Of them are fresh
and capable Of termination. Not all the
species that have reached the island have
obtained a foothold there. The fruits Of
plants that grow in muddy estuaries OF in
mangrove swamps cannot establish them
selves on a clean sandy beach. Many
fruits are cast up only TO die, and nuts Of
some OF the palms, though found in perfect
condition, can produce their plants only
when they happen to lodge on the banks
Of streams where the water Is braokish.
Many cocoanuts are brought in the drift,
but on the eastern shore, or weather side Of
he island, where they are washed up there
Is not single grove Of them, though they
thrive on the lee or western side. where
many groves have been planted. But the
seed drifts there ready for planting, and
this probably accounts for the wide dis
tribution Of the cocoa palm through the
tropical Pacific. The writer gives e1-
amples Of scores OF seeds and fruits that
have made long journeys from other is
lands and may be found terminating In
Guam under perfectly natural conditions.
Mr.. Stafford describes the terrible violence
OF the hur' lcanes that occasionally visit
the island The first that occurred after
our oocup .ncy was in May, 1900, when not
only we've many houses destroyed, but
bracS Iruit, ,cocoanuts, coffee and cacao
we're stripped from the bushes, the rice
fields were destroyed, and the plantain
and banana plants we're torn TO shreds
The cocoa palms are often stripped Of every
leaf, and this is perhaps the most serious
damage. The inforescenoe is formed in
the axis Of the older leaves, and IL these
are injured the flower buds shrivel and the
tree fails to produce. In the year after
this hurricane not an ounce Of copra was
prepared, and this product Of the cOcoanut
il practically the only export Of The island.
Il was in November Of the same year
that terrific hurricane caused the loss Of
the United States ship Yosemite while
living at anchor in the harbor Of Agaha.
Many OF the typhoons that sweep the Philip
pines nave NieA III VIC
OF the Marianne Islands, Of which group
Guam is the most southern member, and DR..
Able has suggested in a recent report that
a station be established on Guam for me-
Neurological observations, and that the
cable be used TO send storm warnings to
Manila. This would be Of much advantage,
he thinks, to vessels about to put TO sea,
giving warning Of approaching blows and
indicating the kind Of weather to be eI-
pected.
Mr.. Stafford throws some new light upon
tie native inhabitants, the Chamorros,
whose language has heretofore been classed
by many writers as Mioronesian dialect
He shows its utter dissimilarity from the
Mioronesian languages, while at the same
time there Is much evidence Of its Poly
nesian relationships. Pure blooded Cha
morros are no longer found. The men Of
the original stock we're nearly all killed of
by the Spaniards, but in all native families
the Chamorro language is the medium Of
communication. The women married Span
ish, Mexican and PhilippineSsoldiers, but
practically no foreign women have come
there, and the children learned the Chamorro
language from their mothers. The Ian
euaRe has become modified by the intro
duotion Of many Spanish words and idioms,
Just as the Hawaiian and Maori languages
hive been influenced by English.
Only year OF two ago we heard Of the
colony of Caroline islanders that had set
{. ed in Guam. The entire colony has now
been sent TO the German islands Of the
group north Of Guam. where they are
under the same government as their coun-
trymen in the Caroline Islands. While in
Guam they never intermRrried with the
but retained their own lam
guage and customs, lived like savages in
small huts, subsisted on Ash wild yams
and fruits, and resisted all attempts to
Christianize them.
The book gives special attention to those
plants which have been found to be new
to science; but, while it claims to be only
a report on Guam, this work Of great labor
will have far wider usefulness because
much Of its information is applicable
throuf cut the tropics
GlOries Of BaCon and GTist.
From the WdIhdHd Courier.