1901.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 561 



Near Port-au-Prince a hillside was visited^which supported au 

 almosti pure growth of lignum vitte, Guaiacum officinale Linn.; the 

 mezquite, Prosopis jxdlflora D. C, and the acacias, Acacia S2)hcero- 

 cephaki Cham, and Schlecht., Acacia faimesianaWiUd., while on 

 rocky outcrops in open places in these woods was found a growth 

 of yuccas, probably Yucca aloifolia Linn. 



This brief sketch of the ecology of the flora of Santo" Domingo 

 suffices to show that an interesting and profitable field of investiga- 

 tion lies at the doors of the American botanist. The West Indies, 

 in their varied topographical configuration, are especially adapted 

 for philosophical inquiry into the causes which have influenced 

 the distribution of plants on the Korth American continent. The 

 writer believes, since his visit to Haiti and Jamaica, that the solu- 

 tion of this phyto-geographic problem will follow a careful biologi- 

 cal survey of the fauna and flora of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. 



36 



