42 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
of the survivors of the ‘‘Lusitania,’’ who gave a most vivid 
word picture of that great tragedy. He said, among other 
things, that literally hundreds of lives were lost because of 
ignorance regarding the proper adjustment of life preservers. 
When the straps were too long, the unfortunate victims were 
floated with feet up and heads down. 
In the morning we went ashore on Dominica, in my opinion 
the most beautiful and most interesting of all the Lesser Antilles, 
at least from the naturalist’s standpoint. It reminds one very 
strongly of some of the Hawaiian group, particularly Oahu. 
The lofty mountains had their summits concealed by clouds, 
while the deep gorges and canyons between them still held the 
mists of the morning, shot through here and there with sun- 
shine, revealing the vivid green of tropical vegetation. Limes 
and cocoa are the main products; but the owners of the lime 
estates were greatly perturbed at this time by an embargo 
which the United States had just placed upon the importation 
of limes. I understand that a factory for the extraction of 
lime-juice here has a large contract with the British Govern- 
ment for supplying its army and navy. We were greatly sur- 
prised to learn that the chief commercial use for limes is in the 
manufacture of dyes. 
Of course we visited the famous Botanical Gardens, the best 
seen during the cruise, and a more beautiful display of tropical 
plant life could hardly be imagined. Palms of various species 
are the most prominent features, and bamboos of wonderful 
size and variety are exceeding attractive. Most gorgeous of 
all is the flamboyant tree, with its huge masses of scarlet white- 
centered blossoms. Another tree, called the ‘‘pudding stick 
tree,’’ was covered with bright yellow bloom. Tamarind trees 
with their long pods, like those of the catalpa at home, and fine 
fern-like leaves, made great masses of deep shade, while the 
‘“sausage tree’’ and the ‘‘canon-ball trees’’ attract the atten- 
tion of the curious. 
There is a little public museum here, the only one that I saw 
in any of the islands, where many things of interest to the 
zoologist are displayed. A huge beetle is exhibited, with enor- 
mous pincer-like horns that are used in a unique manner. They 
are curved toward each other and serrate on the inner or econ- 
