Nov., 1918] Recovery of Vegetation at Kodiak 11 



stands of grass that Gates found in 1913 and 1914 would have 

 required more than three years to develop from seed." Of the 

 trees also, the two most abundant species, Acacia fame siana and 

 Ficus indica, were probably both hold-overs. Acacia farnesiana 

 has a notable ability "to regenerate after the aerial portions 

 of the plant have been killed by fire," and specimens of Ficus 

 indica were "observed that had apparently sprouted from old 

 stumps. " 



The return of plant life at Taal followed very much the same 

 course as at Kodiak. There was the same initial period, when 

 it appeared that nearly all of the old plants had perished. 

 Writers, describing the eruption, state that its effect on plants 

 as well as animals is "better described as annihilation than as 

 destruction" for "not a blade of grass escaped." But then 

 there came a sudden revival from the old roots when it seemed 

 that complete recovery would be a matter of only a few years, 

 and then a second pause, as the process slowed up, while the 

 plants slowly spread against the adverse conditions. 



The ejecta from Taal differ markedly from the ash of Katmai 

 in that, instead of being composed almost entirely of insoluble 

 materials, they contain "nearly 5% of material readily soluble 

 in water, including 0.3% sulphuric anhydride (SO3) and 0.74% 

 chlorine. This would indicate that such ash would not form 

 soil favorable for plants until after the water-soluble material 

 had been leached out to a very considerable extent." This 

 introduces a retarding factor into the problem of revegetation 

 quite different from anything encountered at Kodiak, for the 

 ash of Katmai has very little water-soluble material.* 



THE SOUFRIERE OF ST. VINCENT. 



St. Vincent likewise has made a notable recovery since the 

 eruption of 1902, as recorded by Sands^^* whose report has 

 great interest in connection with the problem before us. 



The depth of the covering of ejecta varied from 50 to 80 

 feet thick in some of the valleys, down to a few inches on steep 

 slopes. On fairly level land, it was 1 to 5 feet. "Already 

 quite a dense growth of shrubs, climbers, grasses and other 



* Data on the salt content of the ash are given in a forthcoming paper by J. 

 W. Shipley, Chemist of the expeditions. 



13 Sands, W. N. An Account of the Return of Vegetation and the Revival of 

 Agriculture in the Area Devastated by the Soufriere of St. Vincent in 1902-3. 

 West Indian Bull. 12: 22-33. 1912. 



