354 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 583. 



way 13.5 feet beyond this line, was ploughing 

 into ground moraine and overturning boulders. 

 August 2Y, 1904, the nose stood 12.5 feet be- 

 yond the Vaux line, indicating but little 

 change. August 27, 1905, it was found to 

 have retreated 34 feet from its position of 

 last year, with its nose embedded in debris, 

 standing 21.5 feet back from the reference 

 line of 1899. This nose now consists of a 

 thin slab of ice, sloping to the west and 

 veneered with fine debris, so that a small 

 amount of melting will lead to a further reces- 

 sion of 30 to 35 feet. The ice in the left 

 lateral moraine is seen to extend four feet 

 beyond the reference line, 25.5 feet beyond 

 the nose, and probably extends several feet 

 farther. Thus while its neighbor, the Ille- 

 cillewaet, seems preparing for an advance, the 

 Asulkan has made an unusually, for it, great 

 retreat and seems ready, the coming year, to 

 repeat the performance. 



W. H. Sherzee. 

 Michigan State Noemal College. 



BOTANICAL N0TE8. 



THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



The administrative report for 1905, of 

 which advance galleys have been received at 

 the office of Science, is an unusually long and 

 full one. The officers of the board of trustees 

 preface their annual financial statement by 

 an abstract history of the institution for the 

 sixteen years during which it has been under 

 their charge. 



Attention is called to the fact that while 

 the gross revenue from the Shaw estate has 

 increased 32.5 per cent, general taxes have 

 increased 62 per cent., while heavy special 

 street and sewer taxes have compelled close 

 economy in the administration of their trust 

 and ultimately absorbed a large fund saved 

 out of the revenue to meet these or other 

 emergency calls. By the conversion of un- 

 productive property .bequeathed for the sup- 

 port of the garden into income-yielding prop- 

 erty, however, they are hoping to largely 

 increase their revenue; and the belief is ex- 

 pressed that the full realization of the pur- 

 poses of the founder of the garden and the 



plans of its director is only a question of time 

 — the foundation being ample and safe. 



The value of the original garden, with per- 

 manent improvements, is said to have nearly 

 doubled, and details are given of the larger 

 items of improvement. Its area has also been 

 increased nearly one half. Plant houses and 

 frames have been more than doubled in ca- 

 pacity, and the collection of living plants has 

 grown from not over 3,000 to about 16,000 

 species. The library has been enlarged from 

 about 5,000 to over 50,000 books and pam- 

 phlets, and is valued at $84,248. The her- 

 barium, from about 60,000 unmounted speci- 

 mens, has increased to 524,000 mounted sheets, 

 valued at $79,216. 



From a gentleman's country estate, the in- 

 stitution has thus been brought into a well- 

 grounded scientific establishment which now 

 has exchange relations with 859 institutions 

 interested wholly or in part in gardening, hor- 

 ticulture or forestry. The average annual 

 expenditure on its maintenance is said to be 

 $43,675.33, of which the larger items are 

 $23,271.39 for gardening, $5,217.67 for office 

 expenses, $4,418.82 for the library, $2,531.91 

 for the herbarium, $930.34 for the instruction 

 of garden pupils and $1,000.83 for research 

 purposes. An average of 83,500 persons visit 

 the garden yearly. 



Training in gardening has been given to 

 39 persons, of whom 15 completed the four 

 years' course; and twenty of the number are 

 stated to be now responsibly and successfully 

 employed. In addition to participating in 

 undergraduate botanical work in Washington 

 University, with which the garden is closely 

 allied, though it is independently managed, 

 graduate opportunities have been offered which 

 have enabled five persons to win the master's 

 and six the doctor's degree, with major work 

 in botany. Through the entire period, the 

 policy of administration has been to afford 

 the freest use of the garden facilities for 

 investigation, and to provide for the research 

 use of a part of the time of capable employees, 

 and the Annual Reports of the garden are 

 well known for their original contributions 

 to botanical knowledge. 



It may not be generally known that the 



