MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 137 
ton plant, with the open bolls and leaves attached, are very 
pretty when placed against a dark wall. 
Brilliantly-colored leaves of the oak, sassafras, maple, etc., 
are good materials for autumn decoration. The branches 
should be gathered about the middle of October when the 
leaves are fully colored. After gathering, they should be 
pressed lightly between newspapers for a day, then laid flat, 
and bits of paraffin or wax placed on each leaf and spread 
with a moderately warm iron. This coating of wax prevents 
the leaves from curling in the dry atmosphere and keeps 
them in the same condition as when gathered. 
All of the strawflowers should be gathered in the summer 
just before the blossoms are fully open, tied in small bundles, 
and hung away to dry. During this drying process the flower 
heads should hang down in order to keep the necks straight. 
The flower stalks are very brittle and break readily, but if 
wired they may be bent into any position and worked into 
more graceful bouquets. 
The lotus leaves and pods are also being sought for fall 
decoration. The present custom of dyeing lotus leaves and 
grasses with brilliant colors and bronzes spoils the beautiful 
autumn colors of nature, and no material is as effective and 
beautiful as when left in its natural color. 
There are many berried plants that can be used in the 
fall for decoration, but they are not as lasting as the dried 
materials. 
THE FIRST RECORDED ACCOUNT OF THE USE OF 
TOBACCO, AND THE INSTRUMENT THROUGH 
WHICH IT WAS INHALED 
Among the valuable and interesting books in the Missouri 
Botanical Garden library is a very rare first edition of ‘‘La 
Historia General de las Indias’’ by El Capitan Gonzolo Fer- 
nandez de Oviedo y Baldés. This book was printed in Seville 
in 1535 and is of special interest because it contains the first 
mention of tobacco as well as a figure of the primitive imple- 
ment, the predecessor of the modern pipe, used by the native 
