126 
representative, but are to be employed on useful work in de- 
molishing the water weeds which have accumulated in the So- 
ciety’s lake in their gardens at Regent’s Park. The absence of 
the swans resulted in the lake being overrun with water weeds, 
brought here, it was believed, by a heron which periodically visited 
the water for fishing purposes. “Every day the swans may be 
seen busy upon the duckweed,” J. L. North (Curator) pointed 
out, “and already the water is becoming clearer.” (Newspaper 
ote. 
Mr. Robert Cushman Murphy, of the Museum staff, has re- 
cently returned from the islands off the coast of Peru. While 
most of his material is zoological, he collected all the flowering 
plants that could be found on the islands. Some of these small 
rocky islets are absolute deserts, a few with only lichens and 
mosses, others with as many as 15 species of flowering plants. 
One island contains a fringe of a single beach species along the 
coast, then for 1000 feet in elevation nothing but bare rock and 
soil, and finally a single specimen of an acacia-like tree, not over 
three feet high. The specimens from these unique islands have 
been presented to the Garden and are now being studied with a 
view to their identification. No botanist has ever been on some 
of the islands, and nearly all of the collections appear to be of 
very rare or unknown species of plants. Some of them may be 
new to science, and they form a valuable addition to the Garden’s 
herbarium. 
Water Lily Pools—During the early part of July the water 
lily pools at the Conservatory Court, after having been filled for 
test purposes, were planted. The northern pool contains aquatics 
which need some heat even in the summer time, and in this Peat 
the following species were planted: 
Victoria Cruziana Nymphaea pennsylvania 
Nymphaea William Becker Nymphaea Daubeniana 
Nymphaea Sturtevantit Nymphaea panama pacific 
ymphaea zanzibariensis Nymphaea Mrs. Woodrow Wil- 
Nymphaea Mrs. C. W. Ward son. 
