814 
which ferry boats glide on some of the swift flowing moun- 
tain streams. 
"Well, these are a few things I am mentioning now; 
later on, when sending off all collected material I'll 
mention more things. 
"I am in a hole, however, as regards a competent Chi- 
nese interpreter! I do not know yet what I shall do. 
Perhaps I'll try to get a young missionary to get along 
with me. This desertion of my Interpreter at such an in- 
opportune place and time has upset all of my plans for the 
present. And life is so fearfully primitive yet here in 
Kansu, it is one of the most backward provinces of all 
China. Pood in general is very coarse, houses are badly 
built, conditions at large are primitive to bhe extreme 
and a white man wonders why people are willing to exist 
only, while it would be so easy to live and to live well 
indeed . 
"Here in this city there is a station of the China 
Inland Mission with several workers; also a Roman Catholic 
Mission, with one Father, I think; also an Engish Post 
master with whom I am acquainted with from Sianfu already, 
then last but not least, Mr. Parrer, an alpine amateur and 
his assistant, Wm. Purdom are here." 
Darjeeling, India, Mr. L. J. Mackintosh writes Sept. 
28, 1914. We have a great number of plants of economic 
value in these hills and not a few of great medicinal 
value, some well known in Europe such as Cheritea and 
Quinine, others again quite unknown. The hill tribes 
are more successful In combating tropical diseases than 
some of the qualified doctors. I shall give you one 
simple example. You know the red Rhododendron arbor •eum ruf- 
escens , the hill people use for diarrhea and dysentry. 
The flowers are gathered and dried in the sun, then stored 
away for the year. They infuse about ten or twelve petals 
(dry) in water and take (drink) the first thing in the 
morning, it being considered the best time. The time how- 
ever matters but little. I have seen really bad cases, 
hopelessly neglected or muddled by others cured by this 
treatment. I could write a whole treatise on the economic 
value of plants in our district and new to our western 
readers. Do you think any of these plants could find a 
field of utility in America? If so I would be most happy 
to collect seeds of these plants. 
