(4) 



and driveway approaches. The house contains fifteen com- 

 partments, separated by glass partitions and doors. 



House No. i contains palms of numerous species from all 

 parts of tropical and warm regions, both of the Old World 

 and the New. Of those native in the southern United States 

 there are noteworthy specimens of the palmetto {Sabal Pal- 

 metto), and of two Florida thatch-palms ( Thrinax). The char- 

 acteristic fan-palm of the California desert, Neowashingtonia 

 robusta, is illustrated by two fine plants. Of West Indian 

 palms, the collection contains the royal palm of Cuba and 

 Florida, an elegant plant of the corozo palm {Acrocomia 

 media) of Porto Rico and the Windward Islands ; the cocoa- 

 nut palm is now planted in all tropical countries for its fruit 

 and for the numerous uses to which its fiber, wood, and leaves 

 are applied ; it is not definitely known that the cocoanut palm 

 is a native of the West Indies, and where in the tropical 

 regions it actually originated is uncertain. Central and 

 South American palms are illustrated by the delicate Cocos 

 WeddelJiana from Brazil, by the silvertop palm {Coccothrinax 

 argentea), and by the curious Mexican Acanthorhiza aculeata, 

 with spine-like roots on its trunk. Old World species are 

 shown in a very large tree of the Chinese fan-palm, by the 

 date palm {Phoenix dactylifera) of northern Africa, by the 

 very broad-leaved Phoenicofhorium sechellarum, native of 

 the Seychelles Islands, and by numerous other large species 

 from the Pacific islands. Related to the palms and shown 

 by numerous specimens in this house No. i, we find a number 

 of species of the cyclanthus family, the most conspicuous 

 being the Panama hat plant ( Carhidovica falmata) , from the 

 young leaves of which the costly Panama hats are made. 

 The sago palms, or cycads, are illustrated here by large 

 specimens of Cycas revoluta from Japan, by Cycas circinalis 

 from the Molucca Islands, by Cycas media from Australia, 

 by the small coonties from Florida, and by the Kafir bread 

 (Eiicefihalartos), two species from Africa ; the stems and 

 trunks of plants of this family contain much starch, which is 

 extracted, in the countries where they grow, by crushing and 



