496 DR. O. STAPF—PLANTE NOVA 
I suggested to him that it would be useful to have a condensed 
account of the principal features of the vegetation of the districts 
visited. He was good enough to supply me with what is really 
a summary of the botanieal contents of his report, with some 
additional information on the climatic conditions and the general 
nature of the country. He also added asketch-map to illustrate 
the route of the tour, the location of the districts, and the 
distribution of forest and open land. 
I propose to add Mr. Dawe's contribution as an appendix to 
our joint paper. I would fain have introduced a more definite 
ecological terminology similar to that used by Professor Engler 
in his valuable contributions on the plant geography of Tropical, 
and particularly of East Africa, so as to facilitate comparison. 
Ifound, however, I could not do it without a greater loss of time 
than I could afford, or the risk of misrepresenting Mr. Dawe’s 
statements, and confined myself therefore to a few purely 
editorial alterations. I would, however, observe that a uniform 
and classified terminology is as desirable for the description of 
the vegetation of a country as it is necessary, for instance, for 
that of morphological objects, although, of course, it can never 
claim the same degree of precision owing to the complication 
and diversity of the conditions which determine the character of 
a vegetation. 
I may be allowed to add a few words of appreciation of the 
scientific results of Mr. Dawe's expedition. They consist, firstly, 
in the addition to science of a considerable number of new types. 
They are by no means exhausted in the present paper, which, as 
I have explained, is mainly intended to give a locus standi to 
the new names introduced into the report. Others which are 
not specially mentioned because they were not of sufficient 
importance for the purposes of the report, or would have required 
too extensive researches, will follow as time permits and occasion 
arises. Then there are a great many species which, although 
already known, are new to the provinces visited by Mr. Dawe. 
As to them I must refer to the enumeration in the official report. 
Of equal value is Mr. Dawe's attempt at a more precise cireum- 
scription of the forest areas in the Equatorial Lake Region aud 
their analysis. In both respects our knowledge was so far of 
the most general character. That part of his work is particularly 
interesting in regard to the West African element present, a 
factor the importance of which in its bearing on the history of 
