﻿376 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [may 



to eastern Russia, where an extensive study will be made upon the Russian 

 crop, with a view to procuring types of seed which will be valuable for experi- 

 mental tests in this country. As Agricultural Explorer he hopes to visit all 

 the chief flax-producing regions and to learn much which may be of use to 

 growers in this country. He has already contributed to the promotion of this 

 industry by his investigations. Leave of absence has been allowed by the 

 College, to which he will return. 



Dr. N. L. Britton, director-in-chief of the New York Botanical Garden, 

 and Mrs. Britton returned from Cuba on April 4. During the brief visit 

 made to the island a large collection of herbarium specimens was made, 

 principally from the region around Matanzas, and some desirable specimens 

 were brought back for the conservatories. Valuable assistance was rendered 

 by Mr. John Shafer, curator of the herbarium of the Carnegie Museum, Pitts- 

 burg. In addition to the great amount of material secured which will be of 

 great value in the continuation of investigations upon the flora of the West 

 Indies, Dr. Britton was so fortunate as to secure a number of rare botanical 



r 



books not previously in the library of the garden. Mr. Percy Wilson, museum 

 aid, returned from Honduras March 18, bringing a large collection of living 

 and prepared specimens of plants from the region near Puerto Sierra and 

 Puerto Cortez. — Science. 



The Desert Botanical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution will 



be located at Tucson, Mr, Frederick V. Coville and Dr. D. T. MacDougal, 

 the advisory board of the laboratory, after an examination of the deserts of 

 Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Chihuahua, and Sonora, reported in 



favor of locating the laboratory near Tucson, and the executive committee of 

 the Carnegie Institution has approved the selection. The building is to be 

 located on the shoulder of a mountain two miles west of the city. This 

 mountain and the adjoining mesas bear an abundant representation of char- 

 acteristic desert plants. The officers of the University of Arizona and of the 

 Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station have taken a lively interest in the 

 project. The Tucson Chamber of Commerce expressed its appreciation of 

 the importance of the enterprise by donating the site and installing water 

 supply and electric connections, beside rendering other valuable assistance. 

 Plans for the building have been approved, and construction will be begun 

 as soon as the site is prepared. It is expected that the laboratory will be 

 ready for operation about September i, at which time Dr. W. A. Cannon, the 

 resident investigator, will take up his duties. 



