85 
NOTES 
On May 1 Dr. William Mansfield was appointed honorary 
curator of economic plants, with special reference to medicinal 
and poisonous plants. Dr. Mansfield is professor of pharma- 
cognosy in the college of pharmacy of Columbia University, 
and is specially interested in the breeding of medicinal plants. 
Cultures of many different species of these plants have been 
started in the Garden. It is an interesting fact that, while most 
of our food, condiment, and fiber plants are cultivated, medi- 
_cinal plants, with very few exceptions, such as poppy and gin- 
seng, have never been grown as a crop, the supply being en- 
tirely dependent upon wild plants. 
— 
Dr. Edgar W. Olive, professor of botany in South Dakota 
State College, and state botanist, has been appointed Curator of 
Public Instruction in the Garden, beginning September 1 
On February 24 Mr. Norman Taylor opened the spring course 
of museum lectures at the Central Museum with a lecture on 
“Our poisonous plants: their haunts and habits, their poisons 
and antidotes.” The last lecture of the course was by Dr. 
Gager on “The plants and people of western Cuba.” 
Dr. Roland M. Harper, of the State Geological Survey of 
Alabama, called at the Garden on April 10. Other callers have 
been Mel T. Cook, of Rutgers College, on April 13, and Miss 
Emmeline Moore, on May 15. Miss Moore was formerly a mem- 
ber of the faculty of the New Jersey State Normal School, at 
Trenton, but resigned about eighteen months ago to accept an ap- 
pointment of one year as acting professor of botany in the 
Huguenot College, Wellington, Cape Colony, South Africa, 
during the absence of the regular professor. 
By invitation of the Natural History Club of Erasmus Hall 
high school, Dr. Gager addressed the club on May 13 on “The 
plant life of Cuba.” ‘The club is a student organization of those 
interested in botany or zoology; teachers in the department of 
biology are honorary ener Regular meetings are held 
