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to be away on leave of absence for several months. It is 
with great pleasure that I report that his complete recovery 
now seems to be assured, and we expect him to return to his 
duties early in the spring. 
Laboratories 
The work carried on in the laboratory room just west of the 
library, now devoted to library extension, has been trans- 
ferred to other rooms in the laboratory system. Special 
investigations by many students have been carried on in this 
department during the season, as outlined in the report of 
the Director of the Laboratories, hereto appended. No note- 
worthy modifications in the equipment have been found 
necessary. 
Dr. C. S. Gager, Director of the Laboratories during the 
earlier part of the year, resigned in August to accept the 
position of Professor of Botany in the State University of 
Missouri, and Mr. Fred. J. Seaver, a former student at the 
Garden, was called from the Agricultural College of North 
Dakota to fill this position; his specialty is vegetable path- 
ology, especially as regards fungus parasites, and this knowl- 
edge will be of great advantage to the Garden in its relation 
to the collections of living plants. 
The tropical laboratory of the Garden at Cinchona, 
Jamaica, maintained in codperation with the Department of 
Agriculture of that island, has been occupied during the 
autumn by Miss Alexandrina Taylor, who proposes to 
remain there for about a year. Miss Taylor is engaged in 
a study of the life history of certain tropical ferns, which can 
only be satisfactorily carried out under such conditions as 
Cinchona affords. Several other students have made appli- 
cation for the privilege of working at Cinchona during 1909. 
The buildings are in capital condition, and a residence there 
in the salubrious climate of West Indian mountains at an alti- 
tude of 5,000 feet, is a most delightful experience, it being 
practically in a subtemperate climate with a tropical flora of 
great variety. 
