NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



Ill 



and of course we have not men- 

 tioned all the variety, there is a 

 similarity or identity with the 

 Chiriqui work described by Mr. 

 Holmes. 



We find the same identity in the 

 gold figurines, a fair series of 

 which are displayed in too little 

 wood frames. There are[]quaint 

 and grotesque figures of birds, 

 beasts, frogs and nondescripts. 

 With these are the little bronze 

 bells (something like sleigh bells) 

 some thin, rather broad disks of 

 gold, three of them with designs 

 worked out upon them. 



It must be plain to the readers 

 that the little republic has done 

 herself credit. The exhibit was 

 at Madrid last year, and there an 

 excellent catalog in Spanish was 

 printed. The collection is dis- 

 played by the Museo Nacional de 

 Costa Rica. Space does not per- 

 mit tracing the history of this 

 young institution, but we must 

 say that the credit of the present 

 exposition on its behalf is in large 

 part due to three gentlemen: J. 

 Arellano, M. M. de Peralta and 

 A. Alfaro. — Frederick Starr, Uni- 

 versity of Chicago in Science. 



Botany in Jamaica. 



By James Ellis Humphreys. 



We are apt to think, when 

 speaking of American botany and 

 botanists, only of those of the 

 United States and Canada, assum- 

 ing that our southern neighbors, 

 both continental and insular, have 

 not yet reached that stage of civil- 

 ization that encourages the culti- 

 vation of the sciences. And so 

 far as those regions are concerned 

 which have felt the influence chief- 

 ly of Latin civilization, this is 

 measurably true. But some of the 

 neighboring islands have been un- 

 der Anglo-Saxon rule for two cen- 

 turies or more, and have felt differ- 

 ent influences. Not, indeed, that 

 their people, as a class, have been 

 much affected by contact with 

 their rules, but in the British islands 

 the mother country has especially 

 fostered botanical study from an 

 early time, and British residents 

 have carried with them the scienti- 

 fic impulse. 



Jamaica has been a British col- 

 ony for fully two hundred years, 

 and it is now more than one hun- 

 dred since its first botanic garden 

 was established at Bath. At first 

 privately supported, it afterward 

 received spasmodic government 

 support. But eventually the site 



was abandoned and a new location 

 was chosen beside the Wag water 

 and among the beautiful hills of 

 the interior nineteen miles north 

 of Kingston. From this time the 

 support of the government was 

 constant and effective, and the 

 Castleton garden grew steadily in 

 consequence, under competent di- 

 rectors sent out from England. It 

 has now an especially notable col- 

 lection of palms and orchid, be- 

 sides its economic collection. 



Meantime the Hope Gardens, 

 near Gordon Town, and six miles 

 from Kingston, begun for private 

 pleasure when the island was in the 

 full tide of its prosperity from the 

 profits of the sugar and rum, have 

 been taken up by the government 

 and are destined to be the chief 

 botanical centre of the island. 

 This collection is newer than that 

 at Castleton and therefore does not 

 possess as many fine specimens 

 and, in some other respects, does 

 not equal it. But most of the 

 propagating and active work of the 

 department is now done at the 

 Hope Gardens. As must inevit- 

 ably be the case with most govern- 

 ment establishments, the chief 

 work of the Botanical department 

 of Jamaica, as of other British col- 

 onies, is economic, the study of 

 the useful plants of the colony, 

 their propagation and products. 

 Its work is at present ably directed 

 by Mr. William Fawcett, F. L. S., 

 formerly of the British Museum. 



A third establishment in charge 

 of the department is the experi- 

 mental Cinchona plantation far up 

 the Blue Mountains. Here, also, 

 is the official residence of the 

 Director, in an almost ideal loca- 

 tion and climate. Indeed, it is 

 said, to quite justify the enthus- 

 iasm of an admirer, who called it 

 "the loveliest spot in the British 

 empire. " 



This place, called Cinchona, 

 can be reached only by a narrow 

 bridle-path that runs twelve miles 

 upward into the heart of the moun- 

 tains from Gordon Town. 



The department issues a period- 

 ical bulletin of the results of its 

 work. 



Ever since the time of Patrick 

 Bowne and Sir Hans Sloane, the 

 higher plants of the island have 

 found devoted students. And 

 among them must be specially 

 mentioned Grisebach, whose "Flora 

 of the British West Indies," Lon- 

 don, 1863, remains the only hand- 

 book of the subject. But the 

 Thallophytes of the region have 

 received little attention and offer, a 

 very attractive field. 



The wife of the present energet- 

 ic governor of the island, Sir Henry 

 Blake, some time since proposed 

 the raising of a fund to establish a 

 permanent marine biological lab- 

 oratory as a memorial to Colum- 

 bus, who landed on the island on 

 his second voyage. The idea is 

 an admirable one, but the project 

 remains, so far as can be learned, 

 in statu quo. A small and well- 

 equipped laboratory at a suitable 

 point on the island, open to the 

 zoologists and botanists of the 

 world, might be of the greatest 

 service in affording means for the 

 collection and preservation of the 

 numberless tropical forms of life 

 in which Jamaica and the sur- 

 rounding waters abound, A party 

 of zoologists from the John Hop- 

 kins University has this year, for 

 the second time, established a 

 temporary labratory at Port Hen- 

 derson on Kingston harbor; but I 

 understand that this choice of a 

 location has been largely governed 

 by the presence of suitable accom- 

 modations. It will be agreed that, 

 in determining the site for a per- 

 manent laboratory, the abundance 

 of available vegetable, as well as 

 animal, life should be consulted. 

 After a somewhat careful examina- 

 tion of the marine flora of the east- 

 erly part of the island, as far west as 

 St. Ann's Bay, the writer can say 

 that several of the ports on the 

 north side are far more favorable, 

 botanically, than Kingston harbor. 

 And perhaps no region is, on the 

 whole, more favorably situated or 

 richer in its vegetation than the 

 neighborhood of Port Antonio. 

 This port has more frequent com- 

 munication with the United States 

 than even Kingston, from its ex- 

 tensive fruit trade. And the jour- 

 ney from Europe to Jamaica is less 

 monotonous and less expensive, as 

 well as quite as quick, via the 

 United States, as by the Royal 

 Mail from England. 



Another factor of considerable 

 importance lies in the much cooler 

 and more healthful climate of the 

 north side of the island, as com- 

 pared with the south side. 



In Jamaica, then, the botanist 

 finds evidences of past and present 

 activity in certain lines, and the 

 sympathy and aid of fellow work- 

 ers. It is much to be hoped that 

 he may soon be able to find, also, 

 the laboratory facilities, which will 

 enable him to study to the best ad- 

 vantage the unsolved problems of 

 tropical vegetation. 



