June 19, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



897 



ments of Columbia University, New York 

 University and other institutions. Further- 

 more, on account of the representations made 

 by the academy through its representatives. 

 Professors Henry E. Crampton and N. L. 

 Britton, the insular government of Porto Eico 

 has made an appropriation of $5,000 tovrard 

 the work for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 

 1914, with the expectation that this appropria- 

 tion would be repeated on each ensuing four 

 years. 



The committee having the work in charge 

 consists of Professors N. L. Britton, James F. 

 Kemp, Franz Boas, C. L. Poor and H. E. 

 Crampton. In furtherance of the project. 

 Professor Crampton visited Porto Eico in 

 December and January and Professor Britton 

 and Dr. Lutz in January and February last, 

 and the work is now well under way. Some of 

 the aspects of the work are as follows : 



GEOLOGY 



Not much is known in detail about either 

 the geology or the paleontology of Porto Eico, 

 so that the field is very attractive. Much, too, 

 remains to be done on the economic geology of 

 the island. The geological portion of the scien- 

 tific study of Porto Eico will be begun this 

 summer by Professor Charles P. Berkey, who 

 expects to sail for Porto Eico about the middle 

 of August and to spend a month in reconnais- 

 sance work on the island. He will probably be 

 accompanied by some other member of the 

 New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Berkey 

 plans to cross and recross the island at as 

 many points as are available in the time; to 

 gain a general idea of the run of the forma- 

 tions and collect as many specimens as pos- 

 sible. Next winter and in subsequent seasons 

 the details of particular sections will be elabo- 

 rated by other workers, and the mineral re- 

 sources will be specially studied. Attention 

 will also be directed with great care to the 

 fossiliferous strata. 



ZOOLOGY 



In the department of zoology, the field is 

 wide and varied, and the organisms to be in- 

 vestigated are especially numerous. The work 



was begun in January, when Professor Cramp- 

 ton completed a reconnaissance of the island 

 in order to map out the different ecological 

 regions for further intensive study. Dr. Frank 

 E. Lutz was a member of Professor Britton's 

 party which investigated the islands of De- 

 secheo and Mona, as well as certain areas of 

 the main island. His collections comprise 

 10,000 insects, and notable series of land 

 molluscs and other forms. 



During the coming summer Mr. Eoy W. 

 Miner will begin the detailed investigation of 

 the invertebrates of the shores and estuaries, 

 especially those of the harbors of San Juan, 

 Ponce, Mayaguez and Vieques. The coral 

 reefs off the southern and western shores will 

 also receive attention. Mr. John T. Nichols 

 begins the collection and study of the fishes of 

 the same regions, working with Mr. Miner so 

 as to correlate the studies in these two fields. 



For the study of the rich division of ento- 

 mology, three investigators will take the field. 

 Mr. H. G. Barber and Mr. F. B. Watson leave 

 New York on July 4, and Mr. Charles W. Leng 

 will go to Porto Eico later in the summer. 

 They will study intensively certain charac- 

 teristic regions mapped out by Professor 

 Crampton and Dr. Lutz. The entomologists 

 of government institutions are cooperating 

 with the survey in this department of activity. 



BOTANY 



The botany of Porto Eico is fairly well 

 known along several lines, but much field work 

 is still desirable for satisfactory knowledge of 

 the fungi and the lichens, and additions to the 

 known flora in other groups can doubtless be 

 made by further exploration of regions of 

 diifieult accessibility. The reforestation of 

 portions of the island is one of the most im- 

 portant economic problems of the colony. 

 Several of the members of the scientific staff 

 of the New York Botanical Garden have given 

 much time to Porto Eico, and the results of 

 their labors will be used in further research 

 there by them. Dr. Britton visited the island 

 in January and is going there again in 

 August. 



