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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the lower cryptogams, they comprise one 

 sixth of the native vegetation. The com- 

 parative scarcity of grasses and of composite 

 and leguminous plants, as contrasted with 

 the unusually large number of Rutacece, 

 Rubiacece, Zobeliacece, and Labiatce, is a mat- 

 ter of astonishment to the collector from 

 more temperate regions. To the student of 

 the lower cryptogams an immense field is 

 open. Near the summits of the mountains, 

 and in other places where there is a large 

 amount of moisture, the trees, bushes, and 

 ground are draped and carpeted with mosses 

 and liverworts. Lichens seem to be most 

 abundant on the trees and rocks of the lower 

 and middle regions. The "kukui" tree, 

 which flourishes only in the lower forest re- 

 gion, is the host of more species of lichen 

 than perhaps any other tree. Next comes 

 the " koa " tree, which harbors many inter- 

 esting species, but, as a rule, different from 

 those which are found on the kukui tree. 

 Parasitic fungi are common on the leaves 

 and stalks of many plants, but fleshy fungi 

 seem to be scarce. Marine algae are abun- 

 dant. 



Trades Unions in China. The following 

 facts regarding trades unions in China are 

 taken from an abstract of Consul Charles's 

 report in the Journal of the Society of Arts. 

 Although labor is cheap in China, the work- 

 men seem able to dictate their own terms. 

 Neither masons nor carpenters begin work in 

 winter much before 9 a.m.; in summer they 

 knock off at noon for a long two hours' siesta, 

 and at all seasons of the year smoke and 

 drink tea, and rest whenever it suits them. 

 According to the regulations of the builders' 

 union, wages, if the men find their own food, 

 are one hundred and eighty cash (about 

 twelve cents) a day. These, in the case of 

 skilled laborers, include their apprentices' 

 wages, which are paid at the same rate. As 

 accidents are frequent in the trade, especial- 

 ly among unskilled hands, the parent of the 

 apprentice has to give an engagement in 

 writing holding the boy's master free from 

 all liability, but a present is expected in case 

 of an accident. No interference is permitted 

 with a customer's engaging any builder pre- 

 ferred by him. No outside firm is allowed 

 to work, however, until it has joined the 

 union and received a certificate, the fee for 



which varies. Masters have to pay the union 

 at the rate of about one tenth of a cent per 

 diem for every man employed by them, to 

 form a fund to meet subscriptions. A simi- 

 lar tax is levied on assistants to meet the 

 cost of festivals, illuminations, etc. If trou- 

 ble occurs between a builder and his em- 

 ployees and work is stopped, no other labor 

 can be engaged in until all outstanding 

 accounts are settled. Attendance is obli- 

 gatory at meetings called to fix the quota to 

 be paid toward subscription funds. There 

 are but five important guilds or trade unions 

 in China the silk and piece goods, the 

 banks, the sugar, the rice, and the general 

 dealers. The members of these guilds are 

 taxed in proportion to their business to meet 

 the various subscriptions required from the 

 guilds toward canal works, etc. The funds 

 are also used for the relief of widows and or- 

 phans of former members. The whole power 

 of trade in China rests in combination and 

 monopoly. 



Rhodesia. Mr. F. C. Selous, who has 

 spent twenty-five years in the country north 

 and south of the Zambesi in Matabeleland 

 and Zululand gave the British Associa- 

 tion a favorable account of the climate of 

 Rhodesia, and the adaptability of the high- 

 land country to white settlement. He re- 

 garded the climate as singularly favorable 

 for the development of Europeans. He had 

 never seen a finer race of men than the 

 Boers and the British colonists of English, 

 Irish, and Scotch descent, who were estab- 

 lished in Cape Colony in 1820. They are 

 tall, fine men, and the speaker believed that 

 the highlands of Rhodesia would produce an 

 equally fine race. The country includes the 

 valleys of the Zambesi and Limpopo, where 

 as in all African lowlands, deadly malaria 

 prevails ; and it is only the tracts four thou- 

 sand feet and more above the sea level in 

 the elevated backbone of the country, which 

 forms the watershed between the Zambesi 

 and the Limpopo in the west, and the Zam- 

 besi and the Sabi in the east that can be 

 looked upon as likely to become peopled 

 by white men. Possibly, as settlement ad- 

 vances, cultivation may gradually encroach 

 upon the lower regions and drive the malaria 

 from them. The superficial aiea of that 

 part of Rhodesia which lies at and above an 



