30 Part I. Chapter ı. 
American Association for the Advancement of Science an account of the 
bacterial flora of the semi-desert region of New Mexico with special reference 
to the bacteria of the air. The ecologic aspects and phytogeography of the 
region under consideration have been provided for by WILLIAM L. BrAY in 
the Ecological Relations of the Vegetation of Western Texas, published in the 
Botanical Gazette for 1901 and the Tissues of Some of the Plants of the Sotol 
Region, printed in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club of November 1903. 
Recently under grant of funds from the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 
ington the continuance of botanic investigation is provided for in the establish- 
ment of a desert botanic laboratory for research at Tucson, Arizona. Muc 
may be expected from this station in the way of elucidating the .geographic 
distribution of desert plants from a physiologic-ecologic standpoint. Several 
illustrated reports have appeared as publications of the Carnegie Institution 
entitled: Desert Botanical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution, dealing with 
the desert floras of North America, the first in November 1903 by FREDERICK 
V. COVILLE and DANIEL T. MACDoUGAL. 
VHI. Mexico. 
The most important books on the botany of Mexico will be listed in the 
bibliography which follows. Ik is advisable, however, at this place to give a 
brief historic resume of the botanic explorations in Mexico. Relaciones de 
Indias published by the authority of PmırLıp II, King of Spain, in the year 
1568 and 1569 contains much of interest to the phytogeographer, but this 
work is rivalled by that of FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ, a Spanish physician and 
naturalist, who was commissioned by Phillip II to visit North America and to 
describe the plants, animals and minerals found therein. The results of his 
labors and travels, expecially in Mexico, was a work in a Latin edition entitled 
Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus seu Plantarum, Animalium, Mine- 
ralium Mexicanorum Historia 1649. WILLIAM HousTon, a student of BOERHAAVE 
at Leyden visited the West Indies and later Mexico about 1729. His collections 
found their way to PHttip MILLER and the plants are frequently referred to 
in the Gardener’s Dictionary and also in JOHN MARrTYyn’s Historia Plantarum 
Rariorum 1728—32. On the death of Houston, JOSEPH BANKS collected his 
notes and published them in 1781 under title of Reliquiae Houstonianae. The 
specimens collected by him are in the British Museum. Luis NEE accompanied 
the expedition of Malaspina and with THADDEUS HAENKE visited Mexico. The 
collection of Nee repose in the herbarium of the Botanic Garden at Madrid. 
Haenke’s collections are scattered in the herbaria of Prague, Vienna and Kew. 
The results of his exploration appeared in five fascicles entitled Iter mexicanum 
and Plantae mexieanae. PRESL who described his botanic collections published 
two volumes Reliquiae Haenkeanae in ı8 30—36. 
The botanic expedition inaugurated by CHARLES It of Spain, was projected 
to explore the countries collectively called New Spain. Several scientists were 
engaged in the survey and among them may be named MARTIN SESSE, JUAN 
