| beta: ates fas on dia ae river, at 
their journey, a sudden storm flooded the camp, 
than half of the specimens and greatly damaging 
remained were placed i in the hands of Dr. tinpeses: 
Fremontianae. 
San Bernardino, California. 
DECIDEDLY DULL ‘ Aa 
The discussion now going on in Zorreya on the question — 
“Why does not the study of botany more often create a lasting 2y 
interest?” reminds me of a similar discussion of many years ago 4) 
between the ministers and newspapers of Boston on the question = 
“Why do not the young men go to church, instead of staying at 
home and reading the Sunday newspaper?” The general result 
appeared to be that the newspapers were by all odds the more 
interesting, particularly the base ball pages. One preacher ex 
pressed the opinion that D. D. was fast getting to be short for 
“T)-ecidedly D-ull,” and was promptly squelched for such blas- 
phemy. 
If there is anything more decidedly dull than botany as it 
is dealt out in California at the present time, I do not know 
what it is. The botanists have provided very fair manuals for 
street gutters and vacant lots of San Francisco and Los Angeles, 
but botanizing outside of the domain of the trolley car is quite 
impossible. ‘The student who collects a plant in the Sierras, or 
in the back country where he is taking his vacation, might as 
well throw it away, for its name is buried in a maze of technical 
literature that only the expert who devotes his whole time and 
life to the subject can hope to understand.—G. G. 
