ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.] BIOGRAPHY 5 



based on a tnorough knowledge of both the morphology and development of the living plant as 

 well as on the work of his predecessors. Bornet, his coadjutor, was fully his equal and was 

 destined to become Farlow's most beloved and revered friend and correspondent for the rest 

 of his life. Farlow used to say that Bornet was the only botanist he knew who made no real 

 mistakes. Bornet was at the time making the famous study of the algal nature of lichen- 

 gonidia, soon after published (1873). The Bornet and Thuret publications, Notes Algologiques 

 (1876 and 1880) and Etudes Phycologiques (1878) are the most outstanding in the realm of 

 phycology. As a result of their work at Antibes, Janczewski published most important papers 

 on the propagula of the Sphacelariac'eae (1872) and on the methods of growth of the thallus of 

 the brown algae (1875), as well as papers on the structure of Porphyra (1872) and the development 

 of the cystocarp in certain red algae (1877). Rostafinski also published several papers on 

 algal structure (1875-1877) and was inspired to begin a revision of the Laminariaceae, which 

 never came to other than preliminary publication, but which nevertheless had its influence. 

 Farlow, while publishing nothing as an immediate result, was influenced most profoundly in 

 his later work on the algae, particularly in the studies leading up to his Marine Algae of New 

 England. 



It is impossible to follow all the wanderings of Farlow during his two years abroad, but it 

 is sufficient perhaps to say that he visited Paris and various places in Germany, Italy, England, 

 and Ireland, to examine type specimens, to visit and consult with various botanists, and to 

 familiarize himself with their floras, both phamogamic and cryptogamic. He returned to 

 Cambridge late in the summer of 1874, well equipped in every way to take up the work in his 

 chosen field. He brought with him many authentic specimens, much in the way of literature 

 and notes, and had annexed a host of sympathetic correspondents to assist in developing exact 

 knowledge of our lower cryptogamic orders. 



From 1874 to 1879, Farlow was attached particularly to the Bussey Institution, although 

 he gave a certain portion of his time to cryptogamic instruction at the Botanical Garden in 

 Cambridge. I have previously mentioned the Bussey "Institution, the idea of which was in 

 the mind of its founder, Benjamin Bussey, of Roxbury, as early as 1835, but which, because of 

 the conditions of the bequest, did not come into active existence until 1870. The workers 

 here were at that time F. H. Storer, dean, and in charge of agricultural chemistry; D. D. Slade, 

 in charge of applied zoology; and C. S. Sargent, at the Arnold Arboretum (established 1872), 

 in charge of arboriculture. It is to be borne in mind that the continent of North America 

 possessed few agricultural colleges or agricultural courses in universities, the majority of the 

 older of these institutions being founded in the late sixties or early seventies. Of stations for 

 agricultural experimentation there were few in Europe, the first, that of Moeckern, near Leipzig, 

 having been organized in 1851, the Rothamstead station, under Lawes and Gilbert, having 

 started somewhat later, and at the time of the inauguration of work at the Bussey Institution 

 between 30 and 40 in Europe all told. The first strictly agricultural experiment station in 

 North America (Connecticut) came into existence in 1875. Storer, with S. W. Johnson, of 

 Yale, and E. W. Hilgard, of Mississippi, Michigan, and finally of California, were developing 

 agricultural chemistry in this country, Storer being particularly interested in the chemistry 

 of fertilizers. The Bussey Institution was intended for several classes of students, both for 

 those not intending to proceed to a degree and those who were candidates for one. We may not 

 wonder, then, that Farlow's work in connection with the Bussey Institution was primarily 

 directed toward the fungi of economic interest and that he laid there, firmly and efficiently, 

 the foundations of what has come to be known as phytopathology. The papers published by 

 Farlow in the Bulletin of the Bussey Institution and elsewhere, between the years 1876 and 1880, 

 show by their titles and content the trend of his interest toward the taxonomic, physiological, 

 and pathological aspects of the fungi, although he still paid very considerable attention to the 

 algae. Plis papers on potato rot, diseases of oranges and olives, the downy and powdery mildews, 

 particularly of the grape, the black knot, onion smut, the reddening of salted codfish, the deterio- 

 rating effect of certain lower algae and related organisms in water supply, all are models of their 



