1901.] 



NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 



561 



Near Port-a>*<*rmce a hillside was vis'ilid^ which supported an 

 almost. purXgrowth of lignum vitee', Guajfcum officinalc Linn. ; the 

 mezquij^f Prosopis juliflora D. C., andilie acacias, Acacia sphcero- 

 cephqJKt, Cham, and Schlecht., Acacfa farnesiana Willd., while on 

 y outcrops in oph places infthese woods was found a growth 

 yuccas, probal^ Yucca aloimia 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 he American botanist. Tne West Indies, 

 r varied topographical configuration, are especially adapted 

 iry into the causes which have influenced 

 North American continent. The 

 to Haiti and Jamaica, that the solu- 

 ic problem will follow a careful biologi- 



in 



philosophical im 

 the distribution of 

 writer believes, sin< 

 tion of this phyto-j 



ints on 

 his 



iphi 



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



36 



