164 
described and discussed. Advantage was also taken of the op- 
portunity to visit the Buffalo Botanical Garden, where half a 
day was occupied in an inspection and study of the grounds and 
conservatories under the personal guidance of the Director, Mr. 
John F. Cowell. 
Dr. H. H. Rusby, chairman of the scientific directors, and 
honorary curator of the economic collection of the Garden, will 
spend the summer in Mexico in connection with his investigations 
of the new rubber-producing tree, Euphorbiodendron fuluum, to 
which subject he has already devoted considerable time and at- 
tention for the Consolidated Palo Amarillo Rubber Company. 
Advantage will be taken of this opportunity for making extensive 
collections for the Garden, especially of economic material, and 
for the investigation of Mexican drugs and medicinal plants in 
the interest of the United States Pharmacopoeia, of the new 
Revision Committee of which he is a member. 
The main part of the collections of desert plants, contained in 
houses nos. 5 and 6 of conservatory range no. 1, have now been 
transferred to the nearby court, as has been the custom for a 
number of years back. The space allotted outside to these col- 
lections this year has been increased, two additional beds having 
been provided. Of the five beds, two are devoted to American 
desert plants, one to such plants from southern Africa, another 
to desert plants from the Old World generally, and the remaining 
bed to the orpine family, which has representatives in both the 
Old World and the New. A comparative study of these groups 
is a matter of much interest. 
In the course of a stroll through the Garden recently, Mr. R. S. 
Williams and Mr. R. C. Benedict found along the east river-path 
below the Boulder Bridge a patch of ground covered with fresh 
leaves of the red maple evidently from a tree which hung over 
the path. The leaves were attached to small fruiting twigs and 
a close examination showed that they had been cut off cleanly, 
presumably by gray squirrels in search of a meal of the seeds. 
Only the one tree seemed to have been so visited. 
Meteorology for May.—The total precipitation for the month 
