Jandaey 14, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



29 



at the beginning. If we are to feed and 

 clothe the increasing population of the world 

 and still retain some time for culture and 

 recreation we shall need to conduct scientific 

 research in all fields to an extent hitherto un- 

 heard of. This is especially txue in the fields 

 represented by this section. Unless we suc- 

 ceed in furnishing food and clothing nothing 

 else avails. Except for temporary displace- 

 ments, due to faulty distribution, population 

 increase has been more rapid than food pro- 

 duction. The time is at hand when we should 

 have scientific information regarding disease 

 control, genetics, maintenance of fertility and 

 cultural methods which we do not now possess. 

 It may take years of patient study to get it. 

 We must educate the public to understand the 

 need and provide for it. It is a part of the 

 duty of this association to take part in this 

 educational work. It is the special duty of 

 this section in regard to agricultural science. 

 Let us be a federation of inspiring spirits as 

 well as active workers for its promotion. 



A. F. Woods 

 , TJNivERSiTy OF Maryland 



INVESTIGATION OF THE FLORA OF 

 NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICAi 



In the summer of 1918, after consultation 

 and correspondence by members of the staffs 

 of the New York Botanical Garden, the 

 United States National Museum and the Gray 

 Ilerbarium of Harvard University, a coopera- 

 tive investigation of the botany and plant 

 products of northern South America was 

 organized and has since been prosecuted. It 

 is planned to include geographically the 

 Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and 

 the adjacent Caribbean islands Trinidad, 

 Tobago, Margarita, Bonaire, Curasao and 

 Aruba.2 



The reasons for the investigation are the 

 deficiency of exact information relative to the 

 vegetation of the region and the paucity of 

 specimens of plants inhabiting it in museums 



1 Bead at the Princeton meeting of the National 

 Academy of Sciences. 

 , 2 See Science, 48: 156, 157, 1918. 



and herbaria of the United States. By far 

 the larger representation of the species is in 

 European institutions. A great number of 

 them have been collected only once, and 

 records of habit and habitat are either alto- 

 gether lacking or quite inadequate. Owing 

 to the necessity of making comparisons of 

 specimens with the types preserved in the Eu- 

 ropean collections, much of the material 

 which has hitherto found its way into Ameri- 

 can institutions has remained incompletely 

 determined. While the published literature 

 of the subject is large, it is widely scattered, 

 and there are no complete lists of plants or 

 descriptive floras of any part of the area under 

 investigation; such monographs or lists of 

 species of genera or of families as have been 

 attempted by authors are incomplete and very 

 many species have been erroneously identified. 

 As to plant products, we are as yet unin- 

 formed in many cases as to the identity of the 

 species of plants yielding them and whether 

 or not the supply of such products can be in- 

 creased by the cultivation of the sjiecies from 

 which they are derived. 



The investigation is making progress in 

 remedying these conditions, through the study 

 of series of specimens recently obtained in 

 Dutch Guiana, British Guiana, Trinidad, 

 Tobago, Venezuela, Curagao, Colombia and 

 Ecuador, collectively providing specimens rep- 

 resenting several thousand species, and fur- 

 ther field expeditions are being arranged. The 

 collections when received, are divided among 

 the three cooperating institutions, field agents 

 being instructed to obtain three specimens of 

 each plant collected whenever possible, and 

 also to make record of habit, habitat and color 

 of "flowers and fruits and to make other notes 

 which may be of importance. Specimens be- 

 yond three in number may be sent to other 

 institutions or to specialists, and the coopera- 

 tion of many experts has been obtained. 



Preliminary studies of the collections al- 

 ready made prove that the investigation is 

 very well worth while. Dr. Francis W. Pen- 

 nell, of the New York Botanical Garden staff, 

 expert in the Family Scrophulariacese, has 

 detected and partly described some 70 species 



