Pkbeuaey 14, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



275 



species of Quercus. There are 18 species of 

 Palms (Palmaceae), and 5 of Coniferae. A 

 solitary species (Vernonia arhorea vestita) 

 represents the arboreus Compositae of the 

 islands. 



A second publication of the same bureau, 

 ' The Spanish Public Land Laws of the Philip- 

 pine Islands,' is worthy of notice here. This 

 consists of translations and compilations of 

 the principal laws which governed the sale of 

 the public lands in the islands under Spanish 

 rule. It is worthy of mention that the Spanish 

 laws made provision for the reservation of 

 those tracts of land which are denominated 

 'forest zones,' and of which it is declared that 

 'the state desires to hold for the common- 

 wealth.' It is further declared in regard to 

 these forest zones that 'no private ownership 

 can be claimed in them by any process of law, 

 unless they are explicitly declared to be salable 

 by competent authority.' One may wish that 

 such wise counsels had prevailed when our 

 forefathers took possession of the forest 

 wealth of this country. Had this been done 

 we should not now be trying to save the last 

 of our forests by the reservation of such mere 

 fragments as have escaped destruction because 

 scarcely worthy of notice by the lumbermen. 



ANOTHER TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY. 



A LITTLE book entitled, ' Outlines of Botany,' 

 prepared by E. G. Leavitt, of the Ames Bo- 

 tanical Laboratory at North Easton, Mass., 

 'at the request of the Botanical Department 

 of Harvard University' is very suggestive of 

 the change which has taken place in our no- 

 tions as to the proper study of plants in the 

 high schools. Here is a book 'based on Gray's 

 Lessons in Botany,' which is as different from 

 the book of which it is supposed to be a modi- 

 fication as can well be imagined. In fact the 

 preface indicates as much, when it speaks of 

 many schools 'having outgrown certain now 

 antiquated methods of teaching botany.' In- 

 stead of a book of lessons to be memorized, we 

 have here a book to be worhed through in the 

 laboratory, with the proper material and ap- 

 pliances at hand. Only one feature of the new 

 book has a familiar look, viz., the illustrations, 

 over which some of us bent thirty-five years ago. 



AU else is new, and to these old-time friends 

 are added many new ones in order to illustrate 

 the new topics and new treatment. 



The treatment of the subject may be made 

 out frotn the headings of the chapters, some 

 of which are as follows : ' Laboratory Studies 

 of Seeds and Seedlings,' 'Laboratory Studies 

 of Buds,' 'Laboratory Studies of the Root,' 

 and so on for the stem, the leaf, the flower, 

 the fruit and the ' Cryptogams.' After each ' 

 laboratory chapter there follows one of general 

 discussion on the same subject. The closing 

 chapters are devoted to the 'Minute Anatomy 

 of Flowering Plants' and a 'Brief Outline of 

 Vegetable Physiology.' The book is thus an in- 

 troduction to modern botany, and since it is 

 to be presumed that it has had the oversight 

 of the eminent men in the Department of 

 Botany in Harvard University, we need not be 

 surprised at its excellence, although its author 

 is yet a comparative stranger in botanical cir- 

 cles. We are glad to welcome the book as a 

 valuable addition to the test-books for use in 

 high schools. 



INDIAN USES OF PLANTS. 



In a recent bulletin of the Division of Bot- 

 any of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, Mr. v. K. Chesnut tells of the uses 

 which the Indians of Mendocino County, Cali- 

 fornia, make of a large number of plants, 

 ranging from red seaweeds, fungi, lichens, 

 ferns and conifers to flowering plants. 

 Fibers, medicines and food constitute the prin- 

 cipal uses which the Indians make of the wild 

 plants of the region studied. One is aston- 

 ished at the large number of fiber plants used 

 by these people, and the question arises after 

 reading this account whether the whites are 

 not allowing valuable native fibers to go to 

 waste. We have probably little to learn from 

 the Indians in regard to the medicinal values of 

 plants, but when we come to the food plants 

 we are again inclined to wonder whether these 

 primitive people may not be able to teach us 

 to make better use of the products of the soil. 

 The number of plants whose seeds yield whole- 

 some food is very much larger than we had 

 supposed possible. One curious feature in the 

 food habits of these Indians is brought to 



