193 
unknown, and among the plants secured by him.are many, of 
great interest, some of them being new to science. In coopera- 
tion with Dr. Rose, Dr. Britton is ene ing the cactuses of 
North America, including those of t est Indies and Central 
America, and special attention is oe given at present to mak- 
ing the representation of living specimens of these plants at the 
Garden and at Washington as complete as is possible ; the plants 
are being photographed as they come into bloom, and their 
flowers and fruits carefully preserved. Either the flowers or 
fruits, or both, of many kinds, are hitherto unknown, so that this 
investigation will gradually accumulate the material for a more 
complete illustration and description of the cactuses than has as 
yet been possible. Means are not at hand either at the Garden 
or at Washington, for making colored illustrations of the flowers 
as they appear, and some provision for this would render the 
study much more valuable. 
In order to facilitate the study of the cactuses at the Garden, 
the roof of the potting shed at the propagating houses has been 
raised, and modified from a flat roof into a peaked roof, thus 
providing a large, dry and well-lighted room, in which the dried 
specimens and those preserved in formalin will be kept, thus 
bringing them immediately alongside of the collection of living 
plants under study, to which one of the rooms in one propagat- 
ing house is now devoted, containing duplicates of the specimens 
on public view at the main conservatories. The principal litera- 
ture on the cactuses will also be kept in this new room, so that 
e now have an outfit which will enable the study to proceed 
with great advantage. 
The approaching completion of the retaining walls needed to 
carry the driveway and paths of the Mosholu Parkway into the 
Garden at the bridge across the railroad west of the Museum 
Building, will permit the earth filling to be completed at that 
point as rapidly as possible after the masonry is built, and this 
should make it possible to complete this approach early next 
year, there being sufficient surplus material for filling and road 
making nearby in the rear of the Museum Building. A 
at the map of the Borough of the Bronx showing ‘e oe of 
