4 MINOR PRODUCTS OF PHILIPPINE FORESTS 
Mr. Fischer’s enthusiastic support and assistance, which has 
contributed greatly to such value as it may have. 
These volumes on forest products have been written to meet 
several needs, but particularly to give an account of the products 
which would be accessible and useful to people without any 
special scientific training. Local names and descriptions have 
been given for all species and figures of the more important ones. 
The descriptions are intended merely to give an idea of the kind 
of plant concerned, and sufficient data to enable one to check an 
identification made from a local name or from a special use. The 
local names are very valuable aids in identifying species, but 
are by no means infallible guides, as there is much confusion in 
local names, and the same names are frequently applied to dif- 
ferent species or groups of species even in the same locality. 
By the use of the local names, the descriptions, and the figures, 
however, it is believed that in most cases it will be possible to 
correctly identify the plants. 
As the work of the present publication has proceeded changes 
have been made in the manner of presentation, and as a result 
there is a certain lack of uniformity. In the second volume, and 
to some extent in the first, we have used the following system 
in discussing the various species of plants: On the left of the 
page is given the scientific name, and on the right the local name 
adopted as official by the Bureau of Forestry. This is followed 
by a list of local names in the various dialects. The first part 
of the discussion takes up the general uses and importance of 
the products concerned. This is followed by a more technical 
description of the products, after which is given a description 
of the species, followed by a short account of its distribution 
and abundance. 
In preparing these volumes I have been greatly indebted to a 
number of people, but particularly to Mr. E. D. Merrill, Botanist 
and Director of the Bureau of Science, who has not only con- 
sented to be joint author of the section on palms, but has been 
of great help throughout this work. Although he is a very busy 
man, I have found him at all times not only willing, but anxious 
to give any possible assistance. The special assistance which 
he has given in this work is, however, only a small portion 
of the indebtedness which not only I, but all people working 
on subjects appertaining to botany, owe to him. When he ar- 
rived in the Philippine Islands, the status of botanical classifica- 
tion was chaotic. Largely by his own efforts, he has straightened 
out the tangle, described as many new species as there were plants 
then known from the Archipelago, identified many more, and has 
