30 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIII. No. 1359 



new to Science from his own collections made 

 in Colombia and in those made in Ecuador 

 by Dr. J. N. Rose. These collections have 

 yielded to Dr. B. L. Eobinson, of the Gray 

 Herbarium, expert in the genus Eupatorium, 

 some 20 undescribed species, and to Dr. J. M. 

 .Greenman, of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 

 expert in Senecio, about a dozen. Many 

 grasses new to science were collected by Dr. 

 A. S. Hitchcock, Agrostologist of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, in Vene- 

 zuela, British Guiana, Trinidad and Tobago, 

 and those obtained by other collectors have 

 been classified by him. Much important 

 information about the Cacti and some 10 

 new sx)ecies were obtained by Dr. J. N". Rose, 

 in Venezuela and in Ecuador. Dr. S. F. 

 Blake, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, has 

 done much work on the Carduaceae. 



Mr. W. R. Maxon, of the United States 

 National Museum, is engaged in identifying 

 the Ferns and Fern Allies, Mrs. Britton, at 

 the 'New York Botanical Garden, is studying 

 the Mosses, and Professor Alexander W. 

 Evans, of Tale University, the Hepatics. Dr. 

 W. A. Murrill and Dr. Fred. J. Seaver, of 

 the New York Botanical Garden, and Dr. 

 J. C. Arthur, at Purdue University, have par- 

 tially identified the Fungi collected. Several 

 other students are investigating smaller 

 gTOups. 



Much desultory work in identifying plants 

 incidental in various families has been accom- 

 plished by Dr. J. N. Rose, by Dr. B. L. Rob- 

 inson and by me. In order to make compari- 

 sons with types and authentically named 

 specimens, I took this summer several hun- 

 dred recently collected specimens of several 

 families to the Royal Botanical Gardens at 

 Kew, England, and compared them with the 

 great collection preserved in the herbarium 

 there; the wealth of undescribed species in the 

 region under study is well illustrated by the 

 fact that I was able to match only a small 

 proportion of them. 



In order to obtain a view of the vegetation 

 and to increase the collections, I spent March 

 and April in Trinidad, the part of the region 

 perhaps the best known botanicaUy, but even 



there I was able to add some fifty species to 

 the known flora of that island, some of them 

 new to science, through specimens collected 

 by myself and members of my party and by 

 studying the fine herbarium of the Botanical 

 Garden at Port of Spain. 



The field work has mostly to be done by 

 collectors sent from the north, but we have 

 highly valued cooperation from Mr. W. G. 

 Freeman, Director of Agriculture of Trinidad 

 and Tobago, and Mr. W. E. Broadway and 

 others of his staff; Mr. Henri Pittier, Agri- 

 cultural Expert of the Venezuelan govern- 

 ment, is sending material from that republic; 

 when Dr. Pennell was in Bogota, Colombia, 

 he secured the cordial cooperation of the 

 Christian brothers there, who are forming a 

 Natural History Museum, and when Dr. Rose 

 was in Ecuador he secured the interest of 

 Mr. A. Pachano; we are also assured of co- 

 operation through the governments of French 

 Guiana, Dutch Guiana and British Guiana. 



The investigation is also adding much to 

 the knowledge of the natural geographic dis- 

 tribution of species, especially as regards those 

 ranging into Panama and the West Indies. 



It is becoming increasingly evident that we 

 should obtain as much exact information as 

 possible concerning the vegetation of tropical 

 and subtropical America. 



N. L. Britton 



New Yoek Botanical Gaeden 



PRACTICAL PSYCHOLOGYi 



It is not easy to find an adjective describ- 

 ing adequately the applied psychology of to- 

 morrow. " Solvent psychology," even apart 

 from the alliteration, makes a certain appeal, 

 for it designates a science capable of meeting 

 all obligations; but the word has implications 

 of deductive solutions reminiscent of meta- 

 physics. Christian Science, psychical research, 

 psycho-analysis, and other mysteries. William 

 James, our distinguished master, has given 



1 An address before the Section of Psyeliology 

 at the CMeago meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science, December 29, 

 1920. 



