86 



THE MUSEUM. 



by writing down long strings of figures 

 on a pad of paper and then reading it 

 off in her own language. She in re- 

 turn interested me with writing down 

 some of their native songs. 



Nearly all of the Samoan people, 

 especially the young ones, are able to 

 read, write and figure in their own 

 language. 



When bed time arrived most of 

 them stretched out on the mats where 

 they happened to be sitting. The 

 head is rested on a bamboo stick 3 or 

 4 inches in diameter with legs under 

 the ends to hold it up about 3 inches 

 from the floor. As my neck was not 

 yet toughened to such a pillow I was 

 given a roll of tappa cloth instead. I 

 was also honored with a mosquito-net 

 screen to hang around the "bed" or 

 rather mat. 



In the morning early we visited the 

 cave again and got as many more bats 

 as I desired. The. chiefs who have the 

 charge of these caves claim a right to 

 a slight fee for allowing any one to go 

 to them. It was plain to see when I 

 gave them 50 cents for my lodging and 

 50 cents for the fee, that they were 

 not very much used to getting money. 



Out of decency I had to wait until 

 after the morning meal, which was 

 served about 10 o'clock, before start- 

 ing on my return. While waiting I 

 sat in the house and looked out upon 

 a pouring rain, anticipating the pleas- 

 ure of walking through the tall wet 

 grass. Breakfast was rather sump- 

 tuous and I fear I ate too much. After 

 the usual exchange of presents — my 

 boys being nearly loaded with cocoa- 

 nuts and other eatables, even a fowl, 

 as a result — I bid all good bye. There 

 was an aged woman in the house who 

 was nearly blind. She held out her 

 hand when she heard me coming, I 

 took it and said "tafa" and started to 

 go but she clung to my hand saying, 

 "love to you," that she was sorry they 

 had nothing nice to give me, and 

 many endearing things which unfor- 

 tunately I could not understand, then 

 kissing my hand twice allowed me to 



go. When we reached the coast we 

 were as thoroughly soaked as though 

 we had been wading, that is I was, 

 but the boys who only wore a bit of 

 cloth about the hips, were not much 

 inconvenienced. 



Many things of interest occurred on 

 the journey home, but to try to give 

 the reader a good idea of Samoan life 

 would be beyond the limits of this 

 article. 



Suffice it to say that we arrived at 

 Iva, after making several stops on the 

 way, before night and were warmly 

 welcomed. E. L. Potter, 



Rochester, N. Y. 



Botany. 



The study of Botany has from the 

 first been very popular, and no doubt 

 will continue so to be in the years to 

 come, says M. J. Elrod in the Illinois 

 Weslyan Magazine. There is an at- 

 traction about ffowers that has charms 

 for all. Their colors are so beautiful, 

 the fragrance so noticeable, the leaves 

 so odd or something else so specially 

 noticeable that few can resist the 

 charm. We would not want it other- 

 wise. And this being the case, the 

 question comes to the student as to 

 how to study plants to the best ad- 

 vantage. 



The first study of plants, as of ani- 

 mals was wholly systematic. Classi- 

 fication of plants, with descriptions on 

 blank sheets or books prepared for 

 that purpose, was the larger part of 

 the study. The beginner spent the 

 greater portion of his time in pressing, 

 mounting, analyzing and naming his 

 collection. In the end he had a nice, 

 showy collection, properly labeled and 

 very attractive. 



This process of study was very 

 wasteful. Hundreds of plants were 

 destroyed annually, many rare species 

 became rarer, and the profit was 

 small. Bloomington and Normal are 

 adjoining towns. In Bloomington the 

 students of the Illinois Wesleyan Uni- 

 versity and in the high school of the 

 city study plants every year. In Nor- 



