C "-. ■•: ::':"ftf :/ >/:V:;r. [Oet., 



learn from the report, consisted in the re-arrangement (with very 

 large additions) of the general collection of Jlgae, of the extensiTe 

 order of Euphorbtaeem. of the Lyeopodiaeem, Nymph&ac&e, and of 

 a portion of the GompositaB. Also in the naming, arranging, and 

 laying into the general Herbarium of the remainder of Mr. Charles 

 Wright's extensiTe collections made in Cuba and Kew Mexico ; of the 

 extensiTe collection formed by the late Mr. David Douglas, in North 

 Western America and California; of a large number of Ferns, 

 collected in Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites, in Venezuela by M. Moritz, 

 f.zi ii. Ei__L-L r;.r^T^- 'z~ Mr. .J:Lr. >i_::i_ : ■:•: P :'_.:- ■■•:>.■:-:&. rrcin 

 Tarious collections ; of Dr. Waflich s collection of Nepalese Oaks ; 

 of numerous plants from Brazil and from the Arctic regions : of 

 palms from Tarious regions ; of numerous European collections, and 

 of several important collections of Cryptogamic plants, including 

 American and other Mosses. Also in the examination and arrange- 

 ment of the Tamable collection of CyeadesB, presented by Mr. 

 James Yates ; of plants from the Tyrol ; Ferns purchased from 

 Mr. John Smith, of Eew; of fruits of CapuH/eras and Coniferm, 

 in the general fruit collection ; of recent and fossil woods ; and of 

 the late Dr. Greville s Terr extensiTe and important collection of 

 IHotomoeem. Altogether, this seems not a bad years work, but 

 those who know the Tast stores of hay packed away in the recesses 

 of the Botanical Department of the British Museum will feel that 

 eren thus they may never live to see the national Herbarium 

 arranged throughout 



Quinine Plants in India. — "It is a good thing that India 

 seems likely to be able to supply the whole world with quinine, 

 for not only was the American supply uncertain, it was actually 

 threatened with extinction, owing to the reckless way in which 

 the Indiana killed the trees in the process of stripping, plant- 

 ing of course no new ones. Mr. M'lvor, who has been ably 

 seconding Mr. Clement B. Markham's efforts at chinchona 

 planting, finds that by remoTing only one long strip of bark and 

 immediately covering the wound with moss the bark is renewed, 

 provided the cambium be not injured. The new lark, moreoTer, 

 is thicker and richer in alkaloids than the original one. Indeed, 

 Mr. Broughton, the newly appointed ' quinologist ' at Ootaeamund, 

 tells us that the average yield of cultivated plants is nearly two per 

 cent, higher than that of the wild American samples — 7 per cent, 

 instead of from 4-16 to 5'66 per cent The only drawback is that 

 the kind which grows most freely in India is the red bark, the 

 quinine from which is usually mixed with a considerable portion of 

 chinchomdine and other allied alkaloids, along with resin and 

 «)louring matter not easily separable. Still, howeTer, since we 

 shall use probably more and more quinine every year, it is better to 

 haTe the mixture than none at afl. Mr. Broughton suggests that 



