87 
specimens after the elimination of a considerable number that are 
not accompanied by data as to locality. Many of the specimens 
included in this enumeration are duplicates which, however, will 
prove valuable in making exchanges. 
Colonel Pike, who is now enjoying a hearty old age in New 
York City, began the collection of marine algae in the earlier 
os of his long and active life. He supplied many of the speci- 
ns which Professor W. H. Harvey based his classical 
Nereis Boreali-Americana, the three volumes of which appeared 
from 1852 to 1858. In dedicating to him the Californian genus 
Pikea, Professor Harvey alludes particularly to his ‘‘ many con- 
tributions of materials to the present volume.” Colonel Pike 
was United States Consul at Oporto, Portugal, for about ten 
years and afterwards, for an equal length of time (1866-1876) 
held a similar post in Mauritius. Notable collections of algae 
were obtained at both these points and his Mauritius gatherings 
were made the subject of a special paper by Dr. Dickie published 
in 1874 in volume 14 of the Journal of the Linnean Society of 
London. The Pike collection as it comes to the Garden is 
especially rich in Mauritius material. In 1886, Colonel Pike 
published in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club a “ Check 
List of Marine Algae, based on specimens collected on the shores 
of Long Island, from 1839 to 1885.” Most of the material 
which served as a basis for this list is represented in the herbarium 
now acquired, which is thus likely to prove of much value also 
in illustrating the local flora. 
MarsHar A. Howe. 
NOTES, NEWS AND COMMENT. 
Dr. N. L. Britton, Mrs. Britton and Dr. M. A. Howe, carried 
out some explorations on the land and marine flora of the east- 
ern coast of Florida with Miami as a base of operations during 
March and the early part of April. The living and preserved 
material obtained on this expedition probably contains a number 
of hitherto undescribed forms and yields many contributions to 
the geography of this interesting region. 
