450 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XL1II 



zorg and Batavia, in Java, about 150 kilometers away, 

 the explosions were likened to the discharge of cannon 

 near at hand, and were so violent as to shake the houses 

 to such an extent that objects were thrown down. 



The effect of the great mass of hot ashes and pumice 

 that completely covered the islands, was to entirely de- 

 stroy every vestige of the luxuriant vegetation which 

 before the eruption clothed the island of Krakatau with 

 a dense forest extending from the shore to the summit 

 of the highest peak, Rakata, meters in height. 



The island of Krakatau, therefore, after the eruption, 

 was very efficiently sterilized, and offered a most un- 

 usual opportunity for studying the establishment of 

 the vegetation upon a large area absolutely barren and 

 comparatively isolated. The nearest land is an island 

 some nineteen kilometers distant on which the vegeta- 

 tion was also largely destroyed, while the large islands 

 of Java and Sumatra arc n-pc-ti vely :!5 and 45 kilo- 

 meters distant. 



Fortunately there was a man who fully appreciated 

 the importance of this unique opportunity, and deter^ 

 mined to trace the reestablishment of the new flora upon 

 the desolated island. The botanical world owes a great 

 debt to Professor Treub, the distinguished botanist who 

 has done so much to advance the study of botany in the 

 tropics, both by his own important investigations and by 

 the building np of the unrivaled facilities for research 

 offered by the magnificent gardens and experiment sta- 

 tions in Java. 



Treub's visit was made in 1886, three years after the 

 eruption, and subsequently the island was again visited 

 by him in 1897, and a third expedition was made in 1905. 



In the spring of 1906, while engaged in botanical study 

 at the mountain station Tjibodas, in Java, I received 

 word that a visit to Krakatau was being arranged for, 

 and was invited to join it. The results of this trip have 

 been presented in admirable fashion by Professor A. 



