although I hare not been in any of those remote regions. 
Practically all the plants obtained by Mr. Pittier in 
Chiriqvii were new species. As a matter of fact, scarcely 
anything is known of the flora of Panama except in the 
vicinity of the Zone, and I dare say the orchids are not 
known much better than the rest of the fl©ra. Toward the 
Colombian border there are some high mountains that have 
never been visited by a botanist, and 1 suppose are not 
likely to be for some time to come. Goldman was there 
collecting mammals, but unfortunately he did not make a 
collection of plants. 
The poorest localities that I found for orchids were 
the high mountains, above, say, 7500 feet. Moisture con¬ 
ditions there would seem to be well adapted to their 
growth, but probably the temperature is too low. The 
flora of the volcano of •‘■'urriaiba proved to be a rich one, 
particularly in ferns, but I d id not find more than half a 
dozen orchids. I suppose there are more there, but indi¬ 
viduals are extremely scarce, and the number of species 
can not be very great. Anywhere between 4000 and 7000 
feet, where there is plenty of moisture, orchids are found 
in the greatest abundance, but above that altitude they 
diminish rapidly. At lower altitudes they are still 
plentiful where there is plenty of moisture, and even down 
on the dry Pacific slope individuals are extremely numerous, 
although there did not seem to be a great variety of species. 
The altitude of La Palma is about 6000 feet, and there is 
rain almost every day in the year. The trees with their 
thick covering of mosses are like great wet sponges, and 
everything seems ideal for orchid growth. I also visited 
Las ITubes or Cascajal, only a few miles away and on the same 
slope, where every condition except temperature and ele¬ 
vation seems to be the same. The altitude there, however, 
is somewhat greater, about 7500 feet I suppose, and the 
excess was great enough to make a decided decrease in 
the orchid flora. It seems probable, therefore, that it 
is a waste of time to visit the higher peaks or slopes in 
search solely of orchids, although it is a different matter 
in the case of some other plants, notably the ferns. 
?/hen collecting orchids I took everything that 
might be of any value. How many of those collected with 
fruit alone can be name,d I do not know, but I shall know 
more about that next time. Some of the smaller plants 
must be duplicated many times from the same locality, but 
I knew that it was impossible to be certain about them 
without the most careful comparison. Where I was, at 
least, it was difficult to find any considerable quantity 
of a given plant, vm at least to be certain that that all 
the specimens belonged to a single species, and consequently 
it was necessary to assign different numbers to specimens 
that one with a good knowledge of orchids would probably 
have recognized immediately as belonging to a single 
species. But it is better to have too much material than 
not enough—sometimes. 
In a few days I hope to send you a box containing 
various specimens obtained by others than myself. There 
are a few mounted specimens collected by Juvenal Valerio, 
