8i6  Mulford  Biological  Exploration.       { ^No/emberi9'2'S: 
University  and  the  National  Museum  have  recently  undertaken 
to  prepare  a  flora  of  northern  South  America,  including  the  region 
referred  to,  this  added  work  would  be  most  timely.  Additional 
interest  attached  to  such  collecting  because  it  would  go  far  toward 
completing  the  survey  of  the  Andean  flora  on  which  Dr.  Rusby  has 
done  so  much  in  his  travels  in  Chile,  Bolivia,  Colombia,  Brazil  and 
Venezuela.  Dr.  Rusby  is,  moreover.  Honorary  Curator  of  the 
Economic  Museum  of  the  New  York  Botanical  Garden,  of  which 
an  elaborate  catalogue  is  now  going  through  the  press.  In  the  per- 
formance of  this  work  he  has  been  impressed  with  the  long  list  of 
economic  products  of  the  region  in  question  of  which  no  authentic 
museum  specimens  exist.  Many  of  the  drugs  of  the  region  are 
very  imperfectly  known,  as  to  their  origin  and  collection.  In  the 
same  connection,  the  Doctor  was  desirous  of  visiting  southeastern 
Bolivia,  the  only  part  of  that  country  where  he  has  not  made  col- 
lections. With  all  these  objects  in  view.  Dr.  Rusby  appealed  to 
the  H.  K.  Mulford  Company  for  cooperation  in  the  carrying  out 
of  such  an  undertaking.  Mr.  Milton  Campbell,  the  President, 
submitted  the  idea  to  his  scientific  department,  with  the  result  of 
considerably  extending  the  scope  of  the  work.  It  was  pointed  out 
that  a  number  of  the  endemic  diseases  of  the  tropics  were  very 
imperfectly  known,  and  that  their  careful  study  would  not  only 
prove  of  scientific  value,  but  might  result  in  the  discovery  of  cura- 
tive measures.  It  was  particularly  desirable  that  the  transmission 
of  diseases  by  insect  agency  should  be  thoroughly  investigated. 
A  discussion  of  these  subjects  showing  that  their  investigation  was 
feasible,  the  proposition  was  submitted  to  the  Directors  of  the 
Mulford  Company  and  was  approved.  Dr.  Rusby's  original  plan, 
as  submitted  to  Mr.  Campbell,  had  included  provisions  for  com- 
mercial adjuncts  by  which  the  expenses  of  the  exploration  would 
be  repaid  and  a  probable  profit  returned,  but  the  Mulford  Com- 
pany deleted  these  items,  stating  that  they  preferred  public  recogni- 
tion as  making  a  contribution  to  science  and  to  medicine,  free  from 
all  direct  commercial  returns. 
The  subject  of  entomology  having  thus  been  included  in  the  re- 
search, it  was  decided  to  broaden  this  work  and  to  make  a  general 
collection  of  insects,  and  arrangements  were  made  with  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Entomology  to  classify  these  insects  and  report 
upon  them.  Out  of  these  discussions  a  suggestion  arose  for  studying 
methods  of  repelling  or  destroying  the  numerous  tropical  insects 
which  so  annoy  travelers  and  not  infrequently  become  the  indirect 
