10 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
though frequent mention is made of the uses of plants in this work, 
the descriptions are in Latin, and the book is not available to the 
average lay student. It occurred to me, therefore, that a popular 
work on the useful plants of Polynesia would be welcome, and I set 
out accordingly to gather together such information as I could for this 
purpose. Many of the plants with which I became familiar 1 encoun- 
tered on widely separated shores. Some of them I found bearing the 
same name on islands whose inhabitants have had no intercommunica- 
tion within historic times. These and kindred facts opened up an 
alluring field of ethnological inquiry as to the origin and dispersal of 
the inhabitants of the myriads of islands which dot the Pacific, a sub- 
ject upon which [ shall enter in an initial way during the course of 
this work.“ 
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the valuable assistance 
I have received in the preparation of this work from Mr. Frederick 
V. Coville, Botanist of the United States Department of Agriculture; 
Mr. O. F. Cook, Mr. Guy N. Collins, and Mr. F. L. Lewton, of the 
office of tropical agriculture, and the late Mr. Henry EK. Baum. I am 
indebted to Mr. Carl S. Scofield and Mr. Thomas H. Kearney for aid 
and suggestions during its progress, and to Messrs. Lyster H. Dewey, 
Rodney H. True, and V. K. Chesnut for references relating to the 
fiber plants, medicinal plants, and poisonous plants included in my 
lists. Acknowledgments are also due to Dr. H. W. Wiley and Mr. B. J. 
Howard, of the Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture, for 
investigations as to the cause of the acridity of the taro plant and for 
fine micro-photographs showing the raphides, or needles of oxalate of 
lime, found in its leaves; also for beautiful representations of extra- 
floral nectaries of Ricinus and Gossypium. 
For notes on the agriculture of the island I am indebted to Don 
Justo Dungea and Don Antonio Martinez, citizens of Guam, and for 
botanical material forwarded to me since my departure from the island 
to Rev. José Palomo and Mr. Atanasio T. Perez. 
In the determination of flowering plants I have been assisted by Mr. 
KE. 5. Steele and Mr. Philip Dowell, and of cryptogams by Mr. William 
L. Maxon, of the National Herbarium. 
In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to Mr. E. 8S. Steele and 
Mr. IF. L. Lewton for their great assistance in preparing this work 
for publication and in helping me to correct the proof sheets. In 
submitting it I venture to express the hope that it may fill a want 
not only of travelers and students of botany, but also of settlers on 
tropical islands and in other warm regions of the globe; and I trust 
that it may be of some use to merchants and manufacturers seeking 
new sources of tropical staples and raw materials. 
@See p. 116. 
