VOL. 1.) Leflingia Squarrosa. 219 - 
me for getting them, the sky suddenly darkened, and shortly a 
torrent of rain descended. The next day was dark and cloudy. 
The ensuing one was a tropical downpour of rain all day. My poor 
plants began to suffer for want of a drying. The third day was over- 
cast, but I took the plants out into the street in the most sunny place 
I could find, and spread them out on the sidewalk up and down the 
way, utterly oblivious of any one’s pleasure but my own. Soon the 
favorable situation modified, gusty winds began to puff their cheeks, 
and my joy in nicely drying plants was ruffled by such wild words 
and phrases of displeasure as occur to the most serene botanists at 
such times, for it began to rain! Then I thought I would improve 
a rainy hour by writing a letter, and went out to get paper. This 
store has ‘‘no papel;” the next one ‘‘no tenga.’’ The third place 
has envelopes but no paper, and the salesman says he knows not 
where paper can be had, ‘‘ probably not anywhere in San Blas.’’ 
Another shop has no paper, but the proprietor politely directs me 
to a fifth, where at length for fifteen cents enough paper is bought 
for two letters. 
Blessed, slow San Blas, in which it rained almost every day of my 
visit! Blessed, happy people of Mexico, who never write letters 
and have no use for letter paper, but whose faith in to-morrow suf- 
fices for many discomforts of to-day. But with all your blessedness 
and forlornness and retrogressiveness, I like you, I admire you, 
sometimes I would even be like you, a Mexicano myself; for if hope 
entices you not, despair never becomes your guest, and, if your _ 
blanket and your bread be sometimes scanty, they suffice in the 
glorious expectation of ‘‘ maviana.’’ 
LG@EFLINGIA SQUARROSA Nutt. 
BY T. S. BRANDEGEE. 
This species is described in Torrey & Gray’s Flora of North 
- America from ‘‘ Sandy plains, San Diego, California.” It ex- 
tends at least to the valley of the Sacramento—often in company - 
with Lastarriga Chilensis, which has a similar habit. It is not 
credited to Mexico in Biologia Centrali-Americana, though Mr. 
C. R. Orcutt has brought it from northern Lower California, and 
the writer from as far down as latitude 28°. Hooker described and 
figured, Icones iii, t. 285, a form from Texas under the name ZL. 7ex- 
