275 
of interest as showing the attendance by schools of the Bronx 
and the total number for the y: 
Pustic ScHooLt 6, THE Bronx. 
December 1, 909. 
To JoHn W. Davis, 
Superintendent Districts 23 and 24, and 
JoserH S. TAYLor, 
Superintendent Districts 25 and 26. 
Gentlemen - The fifteen eae to the children of the 4B and 5 B grades of 
your districts, given ew Botanical Garden by Dr. Britton and his staff, 
were given precisely according to i schedule submitted to you in October, no post- 
ponements being necessary on account of bad weather, the lectures were con- 
ducted in the same manner as during the Spring term, we omit details and submit 
merely the figures of the attendance. 
Respectfully, 
STEVFNS, JR., 
URT P. SEELYE, 
Directors. 
THE KAFIR-BREAD PLANTS. 
In far-off southern Africa, in the land of the Kafir and the 
Zulu, is found a group of plants, belonging to the cycas family, 
known to the botanist as Excephalartos, a name derived from the 
Greek and meaning ‘‘bread within the head,” alluding to the 
farinaceous pith within the stem of these plants which is used as. 
a food by the natives of that region. They are said to bury the 
stems in the ground and allow them to remain there for several 
nths ; the mucilaginous center is then taken out and dried, 
and made into cakes like bread. On account of this use of 
it for food the name of “ Kafir-bread”” has been bestowed upon 
the plants, and especially upon that species known as Enceph- 
alartos Caffer. The name “ Kafir,” meaning an unbeliever, was 
applied by the Mohammedans of eastern Africa to the negroes 
of that region because of their refusal to accept the faith of 
Mohammed. Besides the living species, one fossil species is 
known. 
The Kafir-bread plants, about twelve species, are found only 
in Africa, mainly in the southern parts, with one or two species 
extending into the tropical portions. They finally develop a 
long stout cylindric stem, sometimes six to ten feet tall, though 
