1892.] ESSAYS. 85 



14th January, A. D. 1892. 



ESSAY 



Br 



Prof. W. P. BROOKS, of Amherst. 



Theme: — TJie Fruits and Floicers of Japan. 



In what I shall say upon the subject which I have chosen, I 

 shall restrict myself chiefly to a consideration of the fruits and 

 flowers which have come more or less under my personal obser- 

 vation in Yesso, the northernmost of the large islands of the 

 Japanese empire, although I shall touch also briefly upon those 

 fruits and flowers of the more southern portions of the empire 

 with which I have become familiar. The wealth of material which 

 even with these restrictions lies at my disposal is such as to 

 lead me to fear that my paper may too much resemble a cata- 

 logue, and thus only weary your patience without exciting the 

 interest which, from the nature of the subject, I have felt that 

 some at least among you would take in it. 



I shall notice first some of the most interesting amonsf lioth 

 the wild and cultivated fruits and flowers of Yesso, where I 

 lived for nearly twelve years, and shall later speak briefly of 

 some of the cultivated varieties of the south. Very many, 

 probably nearly all of the wild species of which I shall speak, 

 are found also in some parts of the more southern islands, in 

 many instances on the mountains. How many are the cases I 

 can recall when my hopes of having found something new 

 have been shattered by the discovery that it had been previously 

 collected in some mountain region of the south. Nikko, the 

 celebrated site of the most famous mausoleums and temples of 

 Japan, has proved the grave of many hopes of this sort. On 

 reflection, however, it must be perceived, that in view of the 



