vi Preface 



assume that the animal biologists had a strict 

 monopoly on the method. This is, of course, not 

 at all a fair picture. It is with the conviction that 

 Tissue Culture is, in fact, the domain of all biolo- 

 gists and that Plant Tissue Culture has, in the last 

 decade, developed to the point where it deserves 

 and even demands consideration as a separate, 

 valid, useful, and promising, if not yet fully ma- 

 ture, discipline, that I have undertaken the prepa- 

 ration of this little volume. 



Having decided that the time is ripe for publi- 

 cation in a new field, an author must then deter- 

 mine the scope of his subject, the type of reader 

 he wishes to reach, and the degree of detail which 

 it is valuable to present. I have planned this book 

 as an aid to those who may actually make use of 

 the technique — students, investigators in other 

 fields for whom the methods presented may be 

 useful in the solution of their own problems, and 

 perhaps a very few who may approach the subject 

 for its own sake. With this in mind, I have tried 

 to keep the presentation as simple and concise as 

 seemed compatible with completeness and lucidity 

 and have used, wherever possible, photographs 

 and drawings in place of long descriptions. I 

 have not attempted an inclusive survey of the field 

 in all its past and present ramifications but have 

 concentrated on those matters which may suggest 

 to the student new fields of conquest and provide 

 him with the basic information and the techniques 



