356 



NA TURE 



[February 9, 1893 



is exceptionally fine, this promises soon to be a leading industry 

 in the islands. 



About Hiio especially, but common also elsewhere, was a 

 very conspicuous black fungus, that covered the leaves com- 

 pletely in many cases, and attacked indiscriminately a great 

 variety of trees. 



From Hilo I proceeded to the volcano of Kilauea, some 

 thirty miles distant, and about 4000 feet above the level of the 

 sea. As this volcano has so often been the theme of travellers' 

 descriptions I will not linger over it. In the vicinity are many 

 interesting plants, among them a species of Vaccinium with 

 sub acid yellow and red berries something like cranberries. 

 These " ohelo " berries are much esteemed, and are especially 

 good when cooked. Some two miles from the volcano is a 

 superb grove of koa trees, the largest trees I saw anywhere in 

 the islands. One of ihese standing alone, and with magnificent 

 spread of branches, must have been ten feet in diameter. The 

 road to the volcano lies for much of the way through a fine 

 forest. In the lower part the ohia trees were loaded with their 

 beautiful crimson fruit, and present a very showy appearance. 

 Of flowers, the species of Ipomsea were the most conspicuous ; 

 but the scarlet flower-bracts of Freycinetia were conspicuous at 

 times, for here this latter plant may often be seen running to 

 the tops of the tallest trees. 



The glory of this road, however, is the tree-ferns, which 

 all along excite one's admiration. The carriage road is not 

 yet completed, and about thirteen miles must be done on 

 horseback. Of this more than a mile is over a corduroy road 

 made out of the trunks of ferns ! Such a road, if not very 

 durable, is yet very pleasant to horses. As these trunks lay 

 prostrate, in the damp atmosphere, most of them were 

 already sending out new fronds, and in due course of time 

 the road will be fringed with a hedge of great fern-leaves. 

 Indeed, in some of the more open parts of the road farther 

 down, where the ground is completely occupied by a small tree- 

 fern growing in dense thickets, as these are grubbed out to make 

 way for cultivation, their trunks are piled up to form fences, and 

 soon sprout out so that they make a beautiful and close hedge of 

 fern-leaves. 



On leaving the volcano I went down on the other side of the 

 island. The rain being almost entirely intercepted by the 

 mountains, this leeward side is very dry, and the ride to Punaluu, 

 where we were to take the steamer, was not especially pleasant. 

 Vegetation is very scanty, and nothing particularly interesting 

 was noted in this line. The soil on this side of the island, 

 especially in the district of Kona, is very fertile, and when water 

 can be had, produces magnificent crops of all the tropical staples, 

 pineapples, cocoa nuts, coffee, sugar, &c., all especially fine; 

 and we feasted on these cocoa-nuts and pine-apples as we sailed 

 along this picturesque, if somewhat barren, coast. 



A short, flying trip was made to the Island of Kauai, the 

 richest boianicaliy of all the islands, as it is the oldest geologi- 

 cally. According to Hillebrand, not only is the number of 

 species larger than in the other islands, but the species are more 

 speciali>ed. Here I saw several species of the curious woody 

 Lobeliacese, of which there are several genera that form either 

 shrubs or small trees. I saw several species of Cyanea, with 

 stems six to eight feet high, with long leaves crowded at the top 

 of the stem and many white or purplish flowers, much like those 

 of Lobelia, but somewhat larger and less open. 



As in all the islands, there is on Kauai a great difference 

 between the windward and leeward sides. I drove for about 

 thirty miles along the windward side of this island through some 

 of the most beautiful scenery of all the islands. Near the sea 

 were rolling plains and hills, with here and there groves of Pan- 

 danus and Hau — the latter a dense spreading small tree with 

 large yellow hibiscus-flowers — and at one point we orove through 

 a magnificent grove of kukui trees, the finest I saw anywhere. 

 As we reached that part of the island which is most fully exposed 

 to the moisture-laden trade-wind?, vegetation became extremely 

 luxuriant. Numerous valleys with clear streams flowing down 

 them, their bottoms given up to rice plantations, were to be 

 seen here, with the rice in all stages, from the young spears just 

 standing above the water to golden-yellow patches of ripe grain. 

 At Hanalei, my destination, I found excellent accommodation 

 and a delightful bathing beach, the latter especially attractive 

 after a thirty-five mile urive over dusty roads. Hanalei is 

 beautifully situated on a picturesque bay, with bold mountains 

 rising directly back. The next morning a native was hired to 

 go with me into the woods, and the day was spent in collecting. 



NO. 1215, VOL. 47] 



The variety of trees, as well as other phsenogams, is much 

 greater here than in Hawaii ; the ferns, also, were very fine. 

 Here I obtained a prize in a fine lot of the proihallia and young 

 plants of Marattia, as well as some other interesting things. 



Want of space forbids going into details, but no botanist 

 visiting the islands can afford to miss Kauai. 



In position, the Hawaiian Islands are unique, being more 

 isolated than any other land of equal area upon the globe. More 

 than 2000 miles separates them from the mainland, and i860 

 miles from the nearest high islands. Of purely volcanic origin, 

 thrown up from an immense depth, they have always been thus 

 isolated. As might be expected, the flora is very peculiar, more 

 so than in any other country. According to Hillebrand, of 800 

 species of spermaphytes and pleridophytes that are strictly 

 indigenous, 653, or 75 per cent., are endemic. Taking out the 

 pteridophyies, the spermaphytes show over 81 per cent. ; and 

 the dicotyledons over 85 per cent, that are found only in this 

 group. 



For a thorough study of this very curious flora, a long time 

 would be necessary, as many species are extraordinarily local, 

 and many of the most interesting localities are very difficult of 

 access. The islands differ extremely among themselves, and 

 exhibit in a most interesting manner the correspondence that 

 exists between the variety and differentiation of forms and the 

 ages of the islands. The formation of the islands has proceeded 

 from north to south ; and Kauai, the northernmost of the large 

 islands of the group, is also the oldest and much the richest 

 botanically, especially as regards spermaphytes ; and, according 

 to Hillebrand, the genera and species are more differentiated, 

 Hawaii, the southernmost of the islands, is much the poorest in 

 lorms, although in the Hilo district the conditions are most 

 favourable for a luxuriant development of forms. 



In the latter island is the last active volcano of the group, 

 Mauna Loa, with its two craters, of which the well-known 

 crater of Kilauea is the great sight of the islands, and visited 

 constantly by tourists from all parts of the world. 



A few days after my return to Honolulu from Kauai, and six 

 weeks from my fir>t arrival there, I boarded the Monoivai, the 

 through Australian steamer bound for San Francisco, which 

 was reached in due season after an uneventful passage. And so 

 ended my first trip to the tropics. 



INSTRUMENTS FOR THE EARTHQUAKE 

 LABORA TOR YA T THE CHICAGO EXPOSITION. 



nPHE first earthquake instrument ever invented, a drawing of 

 -'■ which is shown on the wall, is in all probability that of 

 Ch5ko, dating from the year a.d. 132. The first instrument 

 used for keeping systematic records m Japan was Palmieri's 

 modification of the contrivance sketched out by the late Robert 

 Mallet. Since this not only have all forms of seismographs and 

 seismoscopes employed in Europe and America been employed, 

 but many special forms have been designed in Japan, with the 

 result that rather than Japan borrowing from Europe and 

 America, these countries are using inventions which had their 

 origin in Japan. A few of these instruments are exhibited in 

 this laboratory. The main feature in their construction is that 

 they all work from ^'^ steady points " and for small earthquakes 

 at least, we can say with confidence that the diagrams they yield 

 are absolute measurements of the earth's motion. From diagrams 

 written on stationary plates we know the extent and the direction 

 of the principal vibrations in a shock, but when the movements 

 are recorded on a moving surface, we know the period or the 

 rapidity with which the movements follow each other. From 

 these latter diagrams the acceleration or suddenness of move- 

 ments may be calculated, and the factors given to engineers 

 enabling them to construct to resist known forces, rather 

 than simply building strongly because an earthquake is strong. 



Instruments Exhibited, 

 I. Seismograph writing on a glass disc. — Here we have hori- 

 zontal pendulums writing the earth's motion as two rectangular 

 components on the surface of a smoked glass plate. The vertical 

 motion is given by a vertical spring lever seismograph. The 

 rate at which the plate revolves is accurately marked by an 

 electrical time ticker. The movements of the latter are governed 

 by a pendulum swinging across and making contacts with a 

 small vessel of mercury, 5 



