BOTANY 



here again we are reaching the borderland between 

 the organic and the inorganic. The question even 

 of spontaneous generation under these circum- 

 stances takes on entirely new aspects. To search 

 for it in bacteria and torulse is beside the mark, yet 

 in this still more minute realm of the ultramicro- 

 scopic organisms or viruses the transition from the 

 inorganic to the organic may conceivably be taking 

 place even at the present time. 



Practical Applications 



But fascinating as are the scientific problems 

 connected with life as it manifests itself in plants, 

 botany in the last twenty years has also reached out 

 into many realms of applied science. While there is 

 not time to dwell upon these phases, I may mention 

 the enormous and steady development of mycology 

 in connection with the study of plant diseases, 

 especially as they affect agricultural crops. The 

 frequently complicated life-cycles and the relations 

 of the parasite to the host-plant have now been 

 investigated in detail in a great variety of fungi. 

 In every country the trained mycologist has become 

 a necessity as an ally of the farmer in combating 

 fungus diseases. With the further development 

 of tropical agriculture his services will become 

 still more important, and the recent foundation 

 of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology at Kew will 

 be of immense service in acting as a clearing-house 



i6 5 



