119 
slaves. A whip of this kind is shown in the lower figure of 
the second illustration, and is made by removing the woody 
tissue from the center of the stick for a portion of its length, 
leaving only the bark for the lash. This bark was also formerly 
largely used by the Spaniards in the manufacture of rope, and it is 
said that the Indians employed it for a great variety of purposes. 
The first introduction of this tree into cultivation seems to have 
been at the Royal Gardens, Kew, throu h plants secured by 
Capt. William Bligh in 1793. These soon died, however, before 
flowering. The next attempt to introduce it was made about 
1844, when Mr. Wilson, curator of the botanical gardens at Bath, 
Jamaica, sent seeds and young plants to the same institution. 
Several of the plants thus secured flourished, and one of them in 
1849, when eight to ten feet tall, produced flowers and fruit. It 
seems to be extremely rare in cultivation, at least in this country, 
and no mention is made of it by Bailey in his Cyclopedia of 
American Horticulture. I find no record of its having flowered 
before in the United States. 
GeorGE V. Nasu. 
NOTES, NEWS AND COMMENT. 
During April and May about ten thousand school children, 
accompanied by their teachers, visited the Garden as a regular 
school exercise. Suitable lectures and demonstrations were ar- 
ranged for most of them. 
A very valuable collection of Philippine fungi, consisting of 
between six and seven hundred packets, has recently been sent 
in by the Bureau of Science, Manila, for determination. Most o 
these are duplicate specimens and will become permanent addi- 
tions to the Garden herbarium. 
The unusually high rainfall of May, 7.36 inches, has caused 
the grass on the lawns to grow so rapidly during the month that 
it has taxed all available men and horses to keep the lawns 
properly mowed, and certain portions of the lawn area grew very 
high before they could be reached with the machines. 
