462 FiKi.n Columbian Museum — Botany, Vol. 1. 



energies to the utmost. It was at the top of this ascent that 1 found 

 the only specimen of Bvrsonima coriacea. On this occasion we drove 

 for miles without seeing a human being, and the deer, which are quite 

 abundant, bounded across our path. Along the rocky ledges grew an 

 abundance of Baccharis Va/i/ii. 



The drive around the south side was of a totally different charac- 

 ter, comparatively level, with here and there ledges of limestone 

 where was to be seen growing an abundance of cacti and crotons. 

 On these limestone ledges Croton discolor was found Along a flat 

 stretch was a pasture thickly dotted w^ith specimens of the brilliant 

 Cassia polyphyl/a, a species seen nowhere else. In dry thickets grew 

 abundantly Aloe vulgaris, and along the road, in shallow sandy soil, 

 was found a single clump of Andropogon Wrightii. 



At Midland station a swampy held of black muck soil was thickly 

 covered with Sanseviera Guineensis, Croton hetulinus and Wcdclia bitph- 

 thalinoidcs. Along a pile of stonework grew Cereiis triangularis and 

 Passiflora suberosa^ while along the sandy roadsides grew Planiago 

 major tropica. 



The drives out toward the east end of the island w^ere frequent, 

 varying in length. Once we penetrated over an unused road far east, 

 probably within two miles or less of the end of the island. Here we 

 crossed over to the south side, intending to return by the road there, 

 but from a hunter we met we learned that the road w'as impassable, 

 as the sea washed over it at a certain point. I followed up the south 

 road till it was lost in undergrowth, finding a large patch of Tribulus 

 cistoides at the farthest point, near Madam Cartys. The road to West 

 End was very productive and a number of trips w^ere made. A day 

 was spent at Little La Grange and two visits made to Spring Gardens. 



In August, '96, I packed my specimens, numbering about six 

 thousand, in lined boxes and proceeded to St. Thomas by the schooner 

 " Dagmar, " which carries mail and passengers between the islands. 

 Here I was compelled to wait ten days while the steamer " Madiana" 

 took on the cargo of a condemned vessel. While I did not make any 

 collections here, I made some interesting trips, one of which was to 

 the top of the mountain just back of Charlotte Amalia, where I found 

 a patch several acres in extent covered with Mimosa pudica. 1 tried 

 a number of experiments to test the sensitiveness in this species and 

 the speed of shock transmission. So nearly as I could ascertain, a 

 slight tap on the stem near the ground instantly collapsed the whole 

 plant. With ray finger I traced my name in the leafy mass, the col- 

 lapsed plants causing the characters to stand out clearly against the 

 background of those untouched. 



On September 5 we left St. Thomas, touched at St. Croix and 

 reached New York after being detained four days in quarantine. I 

 reached Oberlin September 21, and immediately began to label and 

 distribute my sets. The collecting was carried on in St. Croix after 

 I left by my two young brothers, under my mother's supervision. 

 When they returned to the United States in 1897 they brought with 

 them about two thousand specimens, among them being a number of 

 species that 1 had not obtained in my collecting. 



