526 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 26, 1888. 



At the outset we will say that the book appears to be a use- 

 ful contribution to the subject. It is attractive and readable 

 throughout, but to us it has been unsatisfactory, or, rather, 

 unsatisfying. Tfie lack does not arise so much from the 

 method of reasoning or of statement of observed or cited 

 facts, as from the author's use of terms. This may be illus- 

 trated by a reference to the beginning of the book. After 

 assuming the ideal type of floral structure, he proceeds as 

 follows : " We may at once consider the ' Principles of Varia- 

 tion,' as I propose to call them, in accordance with which the 

 different members of flowers can be altered." " There are 

 five principles which require special consideration. They are 

 usually designated by the terms number, arrangement, cohe- 

 sion, adhesion and form." " The above five principles consti- 

 tute the most important, in accordance with which Nature has 

 brought about the infinite diversity which exists in the floral 

 world. There are minor distinctions hereafter to be consid- 

 ered, such as colors, scents, etc.; but they are of less import- 

 ance in investigating the causes at work which have evolved 

 specific and generic differences amongst flowering plants." 

 This sentence, in which we have placed italics, appears to indi- 

 cate that the author makes no clear discrimination between a 

 principle and a distinction, since the first is said simply to be 

 more important than the latter. In other words, he employs 

 the term principle to express distinctive character or distinc- 

 tion, and yet having appropriated it for this purpose, as he per- 

 haps had a perfect right to do, makes it do double duty as a 

 law or mode of action *' in accordance with which Nature has 

 brought about the infinite diversity which exists in the vege- 

 table world." The author has probably not felt that any am- 

 biguity can arise from such use of terms, but the casual 

 reader and the careful student alike, who take up the book for 

 the first time, will be liable to entertain a distrust which is not 

 wholly warranted. The book ought to do good service in 

 stimulating observation and in exciting intelligent inquiry even 

 amonsf those who are not botanists. 



A Catalogue of Canadian Plants. Part IV. — Endogens. Bv 

 John lVlaco\m. iVIontreal, 1888. 



Another part of this work, being Part I. of the second vol- 

 ume, covering the endogenous plants of British North Amer- 

 ica, has been issued by the Geological and Natural History 

 Survey of Canada. It is to be followed by two additional 

 parts to be devoted to the Ferns, with the Mosses and Liver- 

 worts, and to Lichens, Fungi and Seaweeds. Considerable 

 additions to the knowledge of British American plants have 

 been acquired during the past two years, through collections 

 made on the shores and islands of James' Bay, by Mr. James 

 M. Macoun, a son of the author of the catalogue, Avho him- 

 self spent several months in studying the botany of Van- 

 couver's Island, and by Mr. G. M. Dawson, who devoted the 

 summer of 1887 to exploring that portion of the North-west 

 Territories which is adjacent to Alaska, a journey whose 

 most interesting botanical features have already been 

 described by Mr. Dawson in the columns of this journal. 

 The results of this journey, so far as they relate to the 

 Endogens, are contained in the present volume. Professor 

 Macoun estimates that the entire work, when completed, 

 will contain, including 2,500 cryptogamous plants, the 

 enumeration of about 5,500 species of plants, native and intro- 

 duced, found growing without cultivation, within the limits 

 of the Canadian Dominion. 



Periodical Literature. 



The November number of the Bitlletin of Miscellaneous In- 

 formation, issued from the Royal Gardens, Kew, contains the 

 u^ual amount of valuable information relating to economic 

 plants and plant products, which makes this periodical invalu- 

 able to all persons interested in economic botany and in trop- 

 ical agriculture. 



The principal articles are upon the Lagos Rubber {Ficus 

 Vogelii), from which the following quotations are of general 

 interest : 



" The investigation of plants likely to yield the caoutchouc of 

 commerce is being carried out in west tropical Africa by 

 numerous correspondents of Kew. Possibly in no other part 

 of the world is there such a wide field for investigation of this 

 kind, and in recent years a considerable trade in India-rubber 

 has arisen through the exertions of officials and traders who 

 have given attention to this subject. At present the chief rub- 

 ber-yielding plants on the west coast appear to belong to a 

 species of Landolphia. These are climbing shrubs with stems 

 four to six inches in diameter near the ground, but dividing 

 above into numerous branches, which support themselves on 



the neighboring trees. The rubber of the Gold Coast, known 

 in commerce as Accra rubber, is the product of Landolphia 

 owariensis, Beauv. This is probably the best rubber plant in 

 west Africa. The rubber is obtained by cutting off portions 

 of the bark in strips varying in length from three to ten inches. 

 The cuts are made sufficiently deep to reach the latex canals, 

 and soon the crude juice starts out in drops and gathers on the 

 newly-cut surface. The rubber of the Landolphia coagulates 

 on exposure to the air, and requires no other preparation other 

 than rolling it up into balls. ' A quantity of the milk is first 

 dabbed on the fore-arm of the operator, and being peeled off, 

 forms a nucleus of the ball. This nucleus is applied to one 

 after another of the fresh cuts, and being turned with a rotary 

 motion, the coagulated milk is wound off like silk from a 

 cocoon. The coagulation takes place so rapidly on exposure to 

 the air, that not only is every particle cleanly removed from the 

 cuttings, but also a large quantity of the semi-coagulated milk 

 is drawn out from beneath the uncut bark, and during the 

 process a break in the thread rarely occurs.' 



"Another method of collecting west Africa rubber is de- 

 scribed as follows: The blacks wipe off the milk with their 

 fingers and smear it on their arms, shoulders and breasts, until 

 a thick covering of rubber is formed. This is peeled off their 

 bodies and cut into small squares, which are then said to be 

 boiled in water. In European markets such rubber appears 

 in more or less agglutinated masses of small cubes. 



" The investigations undertaken by Mr. Millson in west Africa 

 are described in the following notes ; 



" 'In nearly all the native villages in the western district of 

 the Colony of Laros, and, I believe, throughout the colony and 

 the interior, are to be found large spreading trees, which have 

 been planted for shade in the market places, streets and com- 

 pounds. These trees are of the Fig famil)', and are called by 

 the natives Abba. I have measured a tree of this species of 

 the age of thirteen years, and found its girth, at three feet 

 from the ground, to be six feet fom- inches, and its height to 

 the branches twelve feet, while its total height could not be 

 less than fifty or sixty feet, and its foliage area a quarter of an 

 acre. A tree of this size ought to give large quantities of milk 

 if tapped at the righttime of the year. Although it was in fruit 

 when I tapped it, and the season being very dry, was in every 

 respect unsuitable, yet the milk exuded in large drops, and 

 flowed for a considerable distance down the trunk. Three 

 quarts of milk were extracted from this tree without injuring 

 it in any way, and I have little doubt that at any time between 

 the months of July and February from four to five gallons 

 could have been obtained with but little trouble. The trees, 

 however, should only be tapped on alternate years, so as to 

 leave time for a fresh growth of bark to replace that which has 

 been removed. It is difficult to form an accurate estiinate of 

 the percentage of dry rubber that would be yielded by a gallon 

 of milk, but'l have reason to believe from previous experi- 

 ments on Central American rubber trees {Castilloa elastica) of 

 similar richness of milk, that each gallon should give about 

 three pounds of India rubber. The value of the rubber pro- 

 duced depends largely upon the care with which it is prepared, 

 and I have reason" to believe that the milk of this species, at 

 least, of the " Abba" tree, can be made to give an excellent 

 sample. 



" 'Should the above facts be established, it becomes evident 

 that plantations of the " Abba" tree would be a highly profita- 

 ble investment. It is planted by the simple method of cutting 

 off a branch and pushing it into the ground, and on account 

 of the facility and rapidity with which it is raised, the natives 

 used it largely for fence-posts. From the trees already in full 

 growth in the bush and towns a considerable export trade 

 could be readily established, and careful planting would de- 

 velop this trade to almost an unlimited extent.'" 



In the article upon Liberian Coffee at the Straits Settlements 

 it appears that " as a commercial article Liberian Coffee has 

 not hitherto proved so valuable as was at one time supposed, 

 and the cultivation, though widely distributed, has not become 

 general in any part of the world. There are, doubtless, good 

 reasons for this. It has been found, for instance, that the 

 "cherries" of Liberian Coffee do not become soft and pulpy 

 when ripe, but remain hard and fibrous. Hence it has been 

 found difficult to husk the beans, as the machinery found suit- 

 able for preparing Arabian Coffee is not applicable to the 

 Liberian Cofi'ee. Again, the "parchment" skin is tough and 

 woody in the latter, "and the labor and percentage of waste en- 

 tailed in " cleaning" is increased, while theactual market value 

 is lessened. Probably, also, in the cultivation of Liberian 

 Coftee the localities selected for plantations have, in many 

 cases,, been subject to long droughts, whereas the species 

 evidently prefers a warm, nioist climate, with abundant rains 



