THE TASK OF AMERICAN BOTANISTS. 307 



even with comparatively poor means; but a well-equipped laboratory, 

 and extensive collections and libraries, are of no avail to him who has 

 not the time to use them. The best work ought to be expected of 

 professional botanists that is, those attached to the schools and col- 

 leges as professors and instructors, rather than from private individuals 

 giving some of their time to botany, because the professors are sup- 

 posed to be selected for their special knowledge of and interest in 

 botany, and to have better means for work than any, except wealthy 

 private individuals. But if the professors do not accomplish as much 

 as is expected in the way of investigation, their principal excuse and 

 it is a good one is that they have no time. But the day is as long in 

 America as it is in Germany, it will be said, and the American profess- 

 or ought to find time for original work. Unfortunately, most if not 

 all his time is spent in class-work ; and his laboratory, his books, his 

 collections, are largely used in elementary instruction of beginners in 

 botany. For this abuse of time and material the public are in part to 

 blame, but, to a considerable extent, the botanists themselves are re- 

 sponsible for the present state of things. In the good old days, the 

 few botanical professors in this country were looked upon as an amiable, 

 harmless set of men who were allowed to give a few lectures every 

 year, and beyond that they were left severely alone. They had an 

 amount of leisure for undisturbed work unknown to the modern pro- 

 fessor, and there can be no doubt that their work in investigating 

 our flora did far more for botany in this country than any amount of 

 class-work which they might have done. 



But now it is all changed. From being neglected, botany has be- 

 come a popular study ; and it is not enough that a professor should 

 give a course of lectures, but he must have laboratory classes and be 

 prepared to demonstrate the very latest European experiments. If the 

 public now expect far more in the way of personal instruction from 

 botanical professors than they used to, it is largely owing to the fact 

 that botanists themselves have for years been urging the importance 

 of botany as a help in education, and, until recently, have neglected to 

 lay sufficient stress on the value of original work. The educational 

 value of botany is pretty well recognized by the public, and, judging 

 by the last few years, they are rather liberal in providing the means 

 for class-instruction. When it comes to providing the means cf re- 

 search, the question is different ; and the trouble is not so much that 

 the public do not really appreciate a good piece of botanical work 

 when their attention is called to it, as that they, as yet, have not the 

 least idea of the amount of time and money required to prosecute 

 research successfully. The unscientific public have an idea that re- 

 search is a thing of inspiration, or perhaps a sort of recreation to be 

 indulged in after class-work is over, and no conception of the months, 

 and even years, of drudgery required before anything of value is really 

 in print. Not infrequently they regard the ordinary student in a 



