4 
necessary to secure material for special work. The presence of 
this large number of living forms materially lessens the task of 
preparing an adequate collection of preserved material for morpho- : 
logical and anatomical work, except in the algae and fungi. ae 
One of the most important results of the exploring expeditions 
sent out by the institution consists in the acquisition of living and 
preserved material necessary for the extension and completion of 
investigations in progress at the Garden. These explorations are 
so planned and executed that they are among the most valuable 
researches prosecuted by the staff, securing much needed data on 
plant geography, distribution, climatic relations and other general | 
ecological problems, which may be successfully attacked only by 
a careful survey of large areas of territory. Expeditions have 
been made to Java, Singapore, Singkep, Porto Rico, St. Kitts, 
Florida, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Colorado, Nebraska and 
Montana during the past year while numerous persons in the field 
have codperated more or less in such work, and in many other 
parts of the world including Mexico, New Zealand and Bolivia. 
The museum collections have been notably increased in her- 
barium specimens and dried material. The appointment of Pro- : 
fessor F. S. Earle as assistant curator in charge of the fungi has 
resulted in greatly accelerating the systematic arrangement of the 
vast Ellis collection, and also enables the Garden to offer oppof- 
tunities for investigations in plant diseases, in which Dr. Alex. P. 
Anderson, of Columbia University, also participates. 
Dr. M. A. Howe has been appointed ‘assistant curator in charge , 
of the algae, to which collection the large number of Characeae j 
marine material obtained by Dr. Howe from Newfoundland and 
Nova Scotia during the season greatly extends the range of work 
which may be carried out with these forms. A good variety of 
living specimens are also accessible at tidewater less than three 
miles distant from the Garden. 
Perhaps the most important accession to the museum collections 
during the year consists of the fossil plants of Columbia University. 
This collection was begun by Professor Newberry over fifty years 
ago and consists of about 8,000 specimens, containing a large 
