400  Botany  and  Materia  Medica.  {Am7u°iy?i!9h6arm' 
The  revision  of  the  North  American  species 
North  American    °f  Cactaceae,  by  Prof.  John  M.  Coulter,  is  one 
Cactaceae.         of  the  most  important  of  the  contributions 
from  the  United  States  National  Herbarium. 
The  first  part  of  this  work,  containing  the  genera  Cactus,  Anhalo- 
nium  and  Lophophora,  appeared  in  June,  1894.    The  second  part 
bears  the  date  of  issue  as  April  1,  1896,  and  revises  Echinocactus, 
Cereus  and  Opuntia.   Fifty-two  species  of  Echinocactus  are  described, 
with  habitat  and  specimens  examined.     Eighty-two   species  of 
Cereus  are  similarly  treated,  and  one  hundred  and  one  Opuntia  are 
enumerated.   Opuntia  vulgaris,  Mill.,  becomes  Opuntia  opuntia  (L.), 
Coulter;  and  Opuntia  refinesquii,  Engelm,  of  the  manual,  is  now 
Opuntia  mesacantha,  Rof.,  and  its  geographical  distribution  is  fixed 
as  only  west  of  the  Alleghenies. 
The  Chemists'  Exhibition,  conducted  by  the  British  and  Colonial  Druggist, 
will  be  held  this  year  at  the  Nation  Skating  Palace,  Argyll  Street,  London, 
August  24th  to  28th,  inclusive.  The  one  held  last  year  was  visited  in  the  four 
days  by  over  19,000  people,  and  that  success  has  been  the  reason  for  the  man- 
agement repeating  it  this  year  on  a  still  more  extensive  scale. 
Some  interesting  facts  about  maple  sugar  are  given  in  the  Garden  and 
Forest  of  May  13th,  by  Professor  F.  A.  Waugh,  of  the  University  of  Vermont. 
The  State  of  Vermont  produced,  in  the  season  just  closed,  some  15,000,000 
pounds  of  maple  sugar,  which  is  greater  than  the  output  of  any  other  State  in 
the  Union.  The  tapping  this  year  commenced  about  March  25th,  and,  after  an 
unusually  short  season,  which  closed  about  April  15th,  an  amount  of  sugar  below 
the  average  in  quantity,  but  considerably  above  the  average  in  quality,  was 
collected.  The  use  of  improved  evaporators  gives  cleaner  and  lighter- colored 
sugar  than  could  be  made  in  the  old-style  kettles,  and  the  prejudice  against  the 
lighter-colored  article  is  rapidly  disappearing.  It  is  probable  that,  without 
reference  to  this  year's  crop,  the  production  of  maple  sugar  in  Vermont  is  on 
the  increase,  which  comes  both  from  the  working  of  a  larger  number  of  trees 
and  from  better  methods  of  manufacture. 
The  prices  realized  for  sugar  and  syrup  vary  greatly.  Some  of  the  first  sugar 
put  on  the  market  brought  the  makers  16  to  17  cents  a  pound,  while  a  great 
deal  was  sold  in  the  country  markets  at  7  to  10  cents.  Probably  the  bulk  of 
the  crop  sold  up  to  date  brought  the  producers  10  to  12  cents.  Syrup  sold  gen- 
erally at  from  60  to  90  cents  a  gallon.  The  Vermont  farmer  feels  that  his  sugar 
orchard  is  one  of  his  best  pieces  of  property.  It  has  been  estimated  that  such 
property  pays  10  to  12  per  cent,  on  the  investment.  Whereas,  a  few  years  ago, 
there  was  quite  a  tendency  to  cut  maple  trees  and  clear  away  the  sugar  orchards, 
the  present  feeling  is  rather  to  encourage  the  extension  of  the  maple  sugar 
industry. 
