98 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
species of Ficus which have been introduced from lower al- 
titudes. 
‘‘TIn addition to collecting orchids my attention was now 
turned to the collection of herbarium specimens. My first 
experience was rather interesting. I visited a suburb of Bo- 
gota called Chapinero, and having collected some two or three 
dozen specimens which I was carrying in my arms, | at- 
tracted the attention of small boys who likewise immediately 
got busy collecting and very shortly I was beset by them, 
holding up weeds and wanting to sell them to me. One of the 
most common plants here is the dandelion which is of course 
imported with European or American grass seed. Drying 
specimens for the herbarium is not a very easy proposition 
in Bogota because of the moist atmosphere. After these daily 
trips all specimens had to be placed between drying pads and 
finally put in press to prevent spoiling. On an average it 
took ten days to two weeks to prepare specimens, all the dry- 
ing papers being changed daily. 
‘‘A trip was taken to Zipaquira, a small village notable for 
its salt mines which antedate the settling of Bogota by the 
Spaniards. The mines were visited under the direction of 
a superintendent who gave us to understand that it was only 
within the past five years that more modern methods have 
been applied in bringing out the salt from the mountains. 
Dynamite and a narrow-gauge railroad now replace digging 
by hand and carrying out on the backs of the natives. In 
former days when the salt was dug by the Indians, the method 
was to dig down into the mountain, but at the present it is 
to go in from the side. At the present time the salt mine 
includes two levels, the upper about 75 to 100 feet above the 
lower and reached by steps cut in the salt. The longest salt 
chamber into the mountain measures about 700 metres. The 
salt is loaded on trucks and taken to the mouth of the mine 
where a series of washing tanks removes the carboniferous 
deposit. Despite the fact that these salt mines are more than 
large enough to supply the entire country, they cannot com- 
pete with the American and European salt which is imported 
from the border states of the Atlantic or Pacific. For in- 
stance, the town of Cali, which is one day’s trip by railroad 
from the Pacific port of Buenaventura, gets all its salt from 
the United States. Cali may be reached from Zipaquira within 
