72 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIII 



Bay and the junction of the Cape Cod peninsula 

 with the mainland."" 



CONCLUSION. 

 In these days when much stress is quite naturally 

 Iciid on the economic value of scientific work, it is 

 pleasing to know that archaeology, aside from what 

 many may consider its purely academic interest, is 

 also, as I think I have succeeded in demonstrating 

 above, of indirect value from an economic stand- 



"OForbush. E. W.. A History of the Game Birds, 

 Wild Fowl and Shore Birds of Massachusetts and 

 Adjacent States. (Issued by the State Board of 

 Agriculture. 1912), p. 406. 



point. There is, of course, a reciprocal dependence 

 of one science on another — archaeology depending 

 on zoology for the determination of animal remains 

 and zoology on archaeology for useful osteological 

 material. 



One of the main points to be remembered is that 

 archaeology in order to be truly scientific and most 

 useful to other sciences, should be conducted in a 

 thorough manner by trained, or at least competent, 

 investigators and not by mere collectors of curios 

 or other irresponsible parties, who destroy more use- 

 ful material than they succeed in preserving. 



TYPES OF CANADIAN CARICES. 



By Theo. Holm, Clinton, Maryland, U.S.A. 



For nearly thirty years the writer has enjoyed 

 the great privilege of receiving botanical collections 

 from the Canadian Government at Ottawa. These 

 collections, mainly brought together by Professor 

 John Macoun, and his son, Mr. James M. Macoun, 

 represent an immense number of Phanerogams from 

 the Pacific to the Atlantic slope and extending far 

 north to the Arctic regions. Although extremely 

 rich in species of all the natural famihes known 

 from Canada, these collections, nevertheless, made 

 it evident that one genus appeared to have inter- 

 ested these gentlemen more particularly than most 

 of the others. It so happened that the genus Carex 

 has been, and is yet, the favorite one of the 

 Macouns. Naturally the collectors laid special 

 stress on the numerous species of this genus, and 

 it is due to the great experience and skill of these 

 gentlemen that their collections of Carex have been 

 more rich in species than similar collections brought 

 together by botanists in general. 



As a matter of fact to collect Carices is a most 

 difficult task, at least when the aim is to have the 

 species represented at different stages, typically and 

 less typically developed, and to show the enor- 

 mous variation exhibited by many of the species. The 

 object of the Macouns was not merely to collect 

 specimens, but individuals in large series of de- 

 velopmental stages. Many new and rare species 

 were discovered, Carex petricosa Dew., and C. 

 Franklinii Boott, never collected since Drummond, 

 were brought home last year by James M. Macoun 

 in magnificent specimens. Last but not least, the 

 geographical range has been extended year after 

 year and it has been shown that the genus pos- 

 sesses many species in Canada of extremely wide 

 distribution, not a few being circumpoiar, and many 

 ascending from the lowlands to the alpine regions 



of the Rocky Mountains. And a point of special 

 importance is that great care was taken to con- 

 sider the variation of the species, which is com- 

 mon to many of these, when inhabiting different 

 localities at different altitudes, and associated with 

 certain species. In this way a broader view has 

 been gained, and the systematist has been guided 

 to appreciate the power of the species to adapt 

 itself to the environment, instead of increasing the 

 already untold number of species supposed to be 

 specifically new, but actually being mere forms or 

 varieties. Many instances illustrating this fact 

 might be mentioned, but we shall confine ourselves 

 to a few. Carex speclabilis Dew., was never 

 known before except as the typical plant, de- 

 scribed by Dewey, but James M. Macoun gathered 

 the species in Jasper Park, Alberta, at a number 

 of stations, and proved the species to be one of 

 special interest with respect to variation, influenced 

 by the environment. Such very inconspicuous 

 species as C. scirpo'idea Wormskj., C. nigricans 

 C. A. Mey., C. praiensis Drej., C. gynocrates 

 Wormskj., C. lejocarpa C. A. Mey., and a host of 

 others are now known and understood better than 

 ever before through the painstaking studies in the 

 field by John and James M. Macoun. Even the 

 remote districts in Yukon, explored by John Macoun, 

 have proved rich in Carices, of species closely allied 

 to each other of the same alliance as a number of 

 North European species, the rigida, aquaiilis and 

 aculina alliance, in Europe so excellently outlined 

 and described by Elias Fries, Laestad, Blytt and 

 others. 



To the writer of these pages these collections 

 have been of the same value and interest as to the 

 Macouns, inasmuch as he for many years, has given 

 special attention to the same genus in Europe and 



