PREFACE, 
The present volume of the Contributions from the United States 
National Herbarium is made up of ten originally separate parts, com- 
prising twenty-five papers in all. 
The first part consists of a catalogue of the botanical library of 
John Donnell Smith, presented by him in 1905, together with his 
herbarium of more than 100,000 specimens, to the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution. The library contains some 1,600 bound volumes, consisting 
chiefly of works relative to systematic botany, and being especially rich 
in works relating to Mexico and Central America. For the present, 
the library is to remain in Baltimore, but Captain Smith has placed 
his books freely at the disposal of botanists. 
Not only have the books been selected with great care, but they are 
all in conspicuously handsome bindings. It is doubtful if there is 
any public or private botanical library of its size which can equal 
it in value from either the scientific or the artistic point of view. 
A simple but appropriate book plate has been designed and printed 
and placed in each volume. 
It is believed that the catalogue will be of interest and practical 
value to many botanists. It is the work of Alice Cary Atwood, cat- 
aloguer in the office of the botanist, Department of Agriculture. 
The arrangement is by authors. 
The second part comprises three short papers, the first two by 
Mr. Henry Pittier. From 1887 to 1903 Mr. Pittier resided in Central 
America, devoting a large part of his time to the study of its flora. 
He made extensive collections and published various botanical papers. 
Since coming to Washington, in 1903, Mr. Pittier has continued his 
study of this flora, and in the two short papers herein offered he pre- 
sents some of the results. 
The third paper is a report by Mr. J. R. Johnston, of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, upon a collection of plants obtained by Capt. 
Wirt Robinson and Dr. M. W. Lyon, jr., in Venezuela. Mr. John- 
ston was asked to determine these species because he had himself 
collected in that country and was somewhat familiar with its flora. 
The collection, though a small one, proves to contain five new species, 
and this paper, like many others in the Contributions, emphasizes 
the richness of the tropical American flora. 
