44 ANNUAL UErOKT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192 8 



and was conducted from headquarters at Tela, being mainly confined 

 to the lowlands and adjacent low mountains along the north coast. 

 During four months upward of 9,000 specimens were collected, these 

 representing the largest single botanical collection ever procured in 

 Honduras. The material is of unusual interest, since it contains many 

 new specimens and others hot known previously from that region. 

 Professor Bartlett's field work in Formosa and Sumatra, financed 

 from personal funds, was conducted under the joint auspices of the 

 National Museum and the University of Michigan. The period of 

 exploration in Formosa, though short, yielded specimens of many 

 endemic species, chiefly from the higher mountains, which were not 

 previously represented in American herbaria. In Sumatra the field 

 work was continued from December, 1926, to the middle of July, 

 1927, and resulted in the accumulation of a large collection consisting 

 of about 2,400 numbers, mostly represented by 5 to 10 specimens each. 

 The exploration included the ascent of several volcanoes and lesser 

 mountains and a reconnaissance of the Asahan region. The impor- 

 tance of this collection can scarcely be overestimated in view of the 

 rapid destruction of the Sumatran jungle, whose components are 

 still very imperfectly known. 



In connection vvith current investigations of native plants as 

 potential sources of rubber, the late Dr. J. N. Rose, associate curator 

 of plants, Avas detailed to field work in Texas during October and 

 November, 1927, through funds supplied by Mr. Thomas A. Edison. 

 From the economic standpoint the results were chiefly negative, but 

 a considerable collection of herbarium material was obtained for use 

 in other current studies, chiefly an investigation of the families 

 Caesalpinaceae and Mimosaceae. In this work Doctor Rose was ac- 

 companied by Mr. Paul G. Russell, on detail from the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry. 



Field studies of grasses for the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture were conducted during the summer of 1927 in the Pacific 

 coast region of the United States by Dr. A. S. Hitchcock, custodian of 

 the section of grasses, and ISIr. J. R. Swallen, assistant in the grass 

 herbarium. Doctor Hitchcock spent about 10 weeks in the mountains 

 of Oregon and Washington, in cooperation with the Forest Service, 

 and a similar period was spent in California by Mr. Swallen. In 

 both cases the object of the investigation was to determine the amount 

 and character of variation in the grass species due to environmental 

 and other factors, and to discover differential characters for the vari- 

 ous species. Excellent collections of illustrative material were ob- 

 tained. At the present time Mr. Swallen is absent on a similar field 

 trip in the southwestern United States. 



Under an allotment from the Roebling fund, Dr. W. F. Foshag 

 visited several mineral localities in the State of Sonora, Mexico. The 



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