HOOK REVIEW 

 A Botanist Explores the Jungle' 



Adventure, thrills daring and dangers; all arc suggested 

 li\ the title of Dr. Rusby'a book, all and more arc found in it. 

 A young man just graduated from medical college, Dr. Rushy 

 w as sent d<>\\ n to Smith America, forty-nine years ago to study 

 medicinal plants. Especially, he was to collect a supply of coca 

 leaves for experimental study in the I nitcd States and to study 

 methods of its cultivation and use by the natives of Bolivia. 

 Also he was to study chinchona both from the botanical and 

 pharmaceutical standpoints. At that time conditions of travelling 

 and living in South America were very different from the con- 

 ditions to-day. After completing his work for the firm Dr. 

 Rusby decided to cross the continent from Bolivia, continuing 

 his botanical studies. He knew it was a hazardous undertaking; 

 his acquaintances in South America assured him it was fool- 

 hardy and impossible. With an Englishman he met in LaPaz 

 he crossed the Andes to one of the small tributaries of the Ama- 

 zon. There the mules were sent back with most of the specimens 

 so far collected and the journey continued by raft and, later, 

 by boat. In a small village two Texan fugitives from justice 

 were met and added to the party. 



The first eight chapters describe the exploring and collecting 

 in Peru, Bolivia and Chile, the remainder and greater part of 

 the book, describes the trip across the Andes, down to the Ama- 

 zon and across to Para. Anyone who enjoys good travel stories — 

 and who does not — is sure to enjoy this volume and to thrill 

 with the experiences of the explorer. There are constant refer- 

 ences to the plants of the region and to the insect, bird and 

 mammalian life that add to the interest of the book to botanists 

 and nature lovers generally. 



There are a few references to the trip across the same regions 

 in 1921 showing the changes that had occurred in thirty-five 

 years and adding some details to observations made earlier. 



That the trip had important scientific results is shown by 

 the fact that for fifteen years after his return in 1886 nearly 

 every volume of the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club had 

 articles describing the new plants collected by Dr. Rusby. 



George T. Hastings 



* Jungle Memories, Henry H. Rusby. 388 pp., 16 plates. Whittlesay House, 

 McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1933. $3.50. 



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