Manila, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Bureau of Science, 1917. 8vo (23.4 x 15.0 cm). 595 pp.; two large, folding maps. Green half calf over marbled boards. Spine with gilt title.

A rarely seen paper by the American botanist Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) "He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through the course of his career he authored nearly 500 publications, described approximately 3,000 new plant species, and amassed over one million herbarium specimens. ... At the end of the Spanish-American War, the United States Taft Commission established the Insular Bureau of Agriculture in Manila. Merrill was appointed to the post of botanist in the new organization and arrived in 1902 in Manila where he was to work for the next twenty-two years. Merrill was dismayed to discover that the herbarium he was expecting to find had been destroyed during the war, along with the botanical library and scientific equipment. Nevertheless, starting with just an empty building, he set out to rebuild the herbarium and library ... He collected and studied plants not only from the Philippines but also from the greater Asia-Pacific region including Indonesia, Malaysia, Indochina, China, and Guam. Eventually the herbarium grew to over 250,000 specimens and the botanical library was recognized as one of the best in Asia. Merrill published more than 100 taxonomic papers on Philippine flora and several additional papers on the flora of the region." (Wikipedia). This is the Department's Publication No. 9. Tiny former owner's inscription in the top margin of the title page; boards rubbed at edges; spine sunned and partly chipped; otherwise internally a very good, clean copy.