SCIENCE. 



o93 



gigantic proportions. The available timber 

 per township runs from ' 3,000 feet B. M. 

 amid the high mountains, up to 59,000 feet 

 B. M. in the northwest corner ' (Dodwell and 

 Eixon). What with fallen timber and under- 

 growth of ferns and shrubs the forest is a 

 veritable jungle. By hard work one can 

 travel a quarter of a mile an hour off the 

 trails ! 



Salal-berry (Gaultheria shallon) and species 

 of Bubus, Vaccinium and Ribes contribute 

 largely to the denseness of the jungle, and 

 furnish abundant food for man and beast. 

 The matted tree tops admit only a gloomy 

 light below, and the darkness is deepened by 

 great blankets of Selaginella (S. oregana) and 

 bearded lichen (Usnea) depending from the 

 branches. A thick bed of moss covers all the 

 ground and swathes the bases of the tree 

 trunks. Above 2,000 feet, however, the forest 

 is quite open, but travel is impeded much 

 more seriously by the impassably sharp hog- 

 backs and steep canyon walls. The moun- 

 tains slope more gently southward than on 

 other sides, and it is believed that Mt. Olym- 

 pus could be reached from the valley of the 

 Quiniault Eiver. The major part of the 

 peninsula is held as the Olympic Forest Ee- 

 serve. Two reports on this by Dodwell and 

 Eixon (1, TJ. S. Geol. Surv., 21st Ann. Eeport, 

 Part v., 1900; 2, ditto, . Professional Paper 

 No. 7, 1902) with maps and illustrations give 

 the best accounts yet available concerning the 

 region. 



The fauna is equal to the flora in richness. 

 Black bears, panthers, wild cats and wolves 

 are numerous. A few squirrels and the moun- 

 tain beaver are found. Deer and elk are 

 plentiful. The garter snake is the only rep- 

 tile. Wild duck and pheasants are occasional, 

 and the familiar robin is seen about the 

 houses. Salmon and trout of several kinds 

 abound in all streams that are large enough. 

 Quiniault salmon is said to be the finest on 

 the coast. The report of the expedition from 

 the Pield Columbian Museum on the mam- 

 mals of the Olympic Peninsula is the only 

 record of its fauna. 



In each river valley a distinct tribe of In- 

 dians originally made its home. The Makah 



at Cape Flattery were studied by Swan, and 

 are an extremely interesting group. The 

 Quillayutes and Quiniaults would equally re- 

 pay an immediate investigation; but their old 

 habits are rapidly vanishing before the gov- 

 ernment schools. Whites began to settle the 

 Quiniault Valley in 1892, but the movement 

 is very slow on account of the diflficulty of 

 clearing land and of getting produce in and 

 out. It is estimated to cost $200 an acre to 

 remove the timber enough for farming op- 

 erations. 



Here, then, is almost virgin soil for any 

 kind of scientific investigation. Just enough 

 has been done to enable the student to start 

 intelligently and progress without interrup- 

 tion on any phase of this interesting region. 



Henry S. Conard. 

 Johns Hopkins University, 

 February, 1905. 



QUOTATIONS. 



DR. OSLER ON THE PERIODS OF A TEACHER'S LIFE.* 



I AM going to be very bold and touch on 

 another question of some delicacy, but of 

 infinite importance in university life, one that 

 has not been settled in this country. I refer 

 to a fixed period, for the teacher, either of 

 time of service or of age. Except in some 

 proprietary schools, I do not know of any in- 

 stitutions in which there is a time limit of, 

 say 20 years' service, as in some of the London 

 hospitals, or in which a man is engaged for 

 a temi of years. Usually the appointment is 

 aut vitam aid culpam, as the old phrase reads. 

 It is a very serious matter in our young uni^ 

 versities to have all of the professors growing 

 old at the same time. In some places only an 

 epidemic, a time limit, or an age limit, can 

 save the situation. 



I have two fixed ideas well known to my 

 friends, harmless obsessions with which I 

 sometimes bore them, but which have a direct 

 bearing on this important problem. The first 

 is the comparative uselessness of men above 



* From his valedictory address at the Johns 

 Hopkins University, given at the annual com- 

 memoration exercises on February 22, and printed 

 in the Journal of the American Medical Associa- 

 tion. 



