tains of Greece. Another tree here is the fetid, or Ohio buckeye, of the central United States; its wood, as well as that of some of the other kinds of buckeye, is manufactured into artificial limbs, for which purpose it is highly esteemed; it is also used for wooden-ware and paper pulp. To the north of the buckeye family is the linden family. The American linden, or basswood, found over the eastern parts of North America, is here; it produces a large amount of lumber under the name of whitewood, which is used in the manufacture of wooden-ware, furniture and carriage bodies; it is also largely used in the manufacture of paper pulp. Another species is the cordate linden, a native of Europe and Siberia, and a third is the white, or silver linden of eastern Europe.

Next in the sequence comes the ginseng family, represented by several species of aralia; many other species of this family may be found at the conservatories. West of these is the ebony family, represented by the persimmon or date-plum (Diospyros), a native of the southeastern United States; its wood is preferred for the manufacture of shuttles; its fruit contains tannin, which gives it its astringent properties; this fruit, when fully ripe, is eaten in large quantities in the southern states, and is also offered for sale in the markets of the north.

Beyond the ginseng family, on the western slope of the hill, is the olive family, represented by several species of the ashes (Fraxinus), some of which are useful for timber. The common European ash is to be seen, and among the North American representatives are the green ash; the Texas ash, restricted to that state; the Biltmore ash, from Pennsylvania to Georgia; the white ash and the red ash are common. lowing to the north is the figwort family, represented by Paulownia, a native of Japan. Terminating the sequence is the trumpet-creeper family, represented by species of Catalpa; among these is the Indian bean, a native of woods in the Gulf States, and Kaempfer's catalpa, from China.

Fol

7. The Hemlock Forest

The forest of Canadian hemlock spruce along the Bronx River, within the portion of Bronx Park set apart for the New York Botanical Garden, is one of the most noteworthy natural features of the Borough of the Bronx, and has been characterized by a distinguished citizen as "the most precious natural possession of the city of New York."

This forest exists in the northern part of Bronx Park on the banks of the river and their contiguous hills; its greater area is on the western side of the stream, but it occupies a considerable space on the eastern side above the Lorillard mansion and below the boulder bridge. The area west of the river extends from just above this bridge down stream to a point nearly opposite the old Lorillard snuff mill, and is the part commonly designated "Hemlock Grove." Its total length along the river is approximately 3,000 feet; its greatest width, 900 feet, is at a point on the river about 700 feet above the water fall at the Lorillard mansion. The total area occupied by the trees on both sides of the river is between thirty-five and forty acres.

While this area is mostly covered by the hemlock spruces, and although they form its predominant vegetation, other trees are by no means lacking; beech, chestnut, sweet birch, red maple, hickory, oaks, dogwood, tulip-tree and other trees occur, and their foliage protects the hemlocks from the sun in summer to a very considerable extent; there are no coniferous trees other than the hemlock, however, within the forest proper. The shade is too dense for the existence of much low vegetation, and this is also unable to grow at all vigorously in the soil formed largely of the decaying resinous hemlock leaves; it is only in open places left by the occasional uprooting of a tree or trees by gales that we see any considerable number of shrubs or herbaceous plants, their seeds brought into the forest by wind or by birds. In fact, the floor of the forest is characteristically devoid of vegetation, a feature shown by other forests of hemlock situated further north. The contrast in passing from the hemlock woods to

the contiguous hardwood area which borders them to the west and north, toward the museum building and the herbaceous grounds, is at once apparent, for here we see a luxuriant growth of shrubs and of herbs, including many of our most interesting wild flowers.

8. The Gorge of the Bronx River

The gorge of the Bronx River extends from the boulder bridge at the north end of the Hemlock Forest southward for about a mile, nearly to Pelham Avenue, and is a most beautiful and picturesque natural feature, besides being of great geological significance. Its depth from the summits of the hills on both sides averages nearly 75 feet, and its sides below the foot-bridge at the Lorillard mansion are nearly vertical rock faces. The hills on both sides are heavily wooded with hemlock spruces and other trees. In the upper part of the gorge the Bronx flows slowly, being held back by the dam forming the water-fall at the Lorillard mansion, and the elevation of its surface is only a few inches higher at the boulder bridge than it is at the fall; after plunging over the dam, however, the river runs in its unobstructed natural channel with all the appearance of a mountain stream, which at high water is exceedingly beautiful.

9. North Meadows and River Woods

The Bronx River enters the northern end of the Garden from Williamsbridge and flows as a slow stream southward to the water-fall at the Lorillard mansion, its surface being nearly level throughout this distance. It is spanned just inside the northern boundary of the Garden by a concretesteel arched bridge with granite copings, which carries the main park driveway across it near the Newell Avenue entrance. The entire northern end of the Garden is formed of the flood plain of the Bronx River, consisting largely of grassy meadows and marshes which at average flow of the stream are several feet above its surface, but which at flood time are occasionally submerged for short periods, the whole