366 THE EVOLUTION OP OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



ripeness and before it has lost its acid taste ; but to 

 southerners it is at that time hardly palatable. 



"It is known in northern Quebec and about Hud- 

 sou's Bay as the Yellow-berry, and in that part of 

 the country there is no fruit more sought after for 

 cooking. A small amount of sugar is needed in pre- 

 paring it for the table, and jam made from this berry 

 has such a rich and delicate flavor, so unlike that made 

 from any other fruit, that at several of the Hudson 

 Bay Company's posts large quantities are preserved and 

 sent to friends at home. The Chipvegan Indians of 

 the Mackenzie river valley make a sugar from the 

 juice of the birch, in which the Cloudberries are cooked, 

 and, prepared in this manner, they are considered a 

 great delicacy. Few birds eat the Cloudbeny, so that 

 when they are not picked by man they decay slowly on 

 the vines, and finally drop to the ground." The Cloud- 

 berry is often mentioned in the narratives of travelers 

 in the arctic. 



The Botanical Names of the Blackberries 

 and Dewberries 



The most curious and embarrassing confusion has arisen re- 

 specting the names of the American rubi of the blackberry and 

 dewberry group. In 1753, Linnaeus described Bubus Canadensis. 

 In 1789, Alton described Eubus mllosus. Linnaeus' species has 

 always been taken to be the common dewberry of the North, and 

 Alton's species has been taken to be the common high-bush 

 blackberry of the North. The original descriptions indicate that 

 the names have not been properly applied by American botanists. 

 Consequently, I had drawings made of the original specimens now 

 deposited in London, and it became evident at once that the 

 species had been misunderstood. I, therefore, laid aside the 

 work of revision of the group, and, consequently, the publication 



