22 THE BUREAU OF SCIENCE 



timbers, by W. H. Brown and D. M. Mathews, in the Philippine 

 Journal of Science, Section A (1914), 9, Nos. 5 and 6, is to be 

 continued in the near future on the pine forests of northern 

 Luzon. Considerable progress has been made in a study of the 

 water relations of certain plants, particular attention being given 

 to the relative relations of absorption and evaporation under 

 different conditions. 



The field work on the distribution of plants on Mount Maqui- 

 ling in relation to the environmental conditions has been com- 

 pleted. This work consisted in taking careful and continuous 

 records of temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind, evaporation, 

 and soil moisture in several different situations in a number of 

 localities at various altitudes from the base to the summit of the 

 mountain and relating these data to the rate of growth, size, 

 number, and character of the trees or other plants found on the 

 area. For comparative purposes similar work has been com- 

 menced on Mount Banahao. On the completion of this work 

 many classes of vegetation can be directly correlated with cli- 

 matic factors. Thus, by observing the natural vegetation of a 

 given area, to a large degree, the nature of the climate and the 

 agricultural use to which the region in question is adapted can 

 be determined. The idea may be summed up in the determina- 

 tion of certain prevalent types of vegetation as the indicators 

 of the value of the areas for agricultural pui*poses. 



Herhariuni. — During the absence of Mr. Merrill in the United 

 States, current identifications of material for the Bureau of 

 Forestry were made by Mr. Fenix, who was also responsible for 

 the general care and arrangement of all original and duplicate 

 material received. The work of Mr. Fenix in this difficult posi- 

 tion has been excellent, and he has correctly made a high percent- 

 age of identifications. The European war has cut off many ex- 

 changes. In continuation of the exchanges and relations with 

 specialists previously arranged, 9,130 duplicate botanical speci- 

 mens have been distributed. Of these about 7,000 have been 

 distributed in exchange, about 1,500 have been sent to specialists 

 for study and report, and 648 have been identified, mounted, 

 and turned over to the Bureau of Forestry for distribution 

 to the various provincial forestry stations. Mounted sheets 

 loaned to specialists for study number 439. Many duplicates 

 from the collections accumulated during the past year, and sev- 

 eral undistributed sets of older collections cannot be shipped now 

 because of war conditions. 



Philippine accessions. — Collections made by employees of the 

 Bureau of Forestry were approximately the same in quantity 



