NOTES AND COMMENT 



On April 20 the cornerstone of the laboratory building of the Brooklyn 

 Botanic Garden was laid with brief formalities. Addresses were made 

 by the President of the Brookljai Institute of Arts and Sciences, of 

 which the Garden is a department; by Dr. C. Stuart Gager, Director 

 of the Garden; and by Mr. Alfred T. White, through whose instru- 

 mentality a private gift of $100,000 was obtained, thus securing a 

 municipal appropriation of like amount and making possible the com- 

 pletion of the laboratory building and a range of plant houses. The 

 total estimated cost of these structures is S'270,000, and it is anticipated 

 that they will be completed by the end of this year. The laboratory 

 building will contain the offices of administration; the library, compris- 

 ing about 3800 books and 5900 pamphlets; the herbarium, comprising 

 at present over 110,000 sheets; a lecture hall seating 574 persons; two 

 class rooms; morphological, physiological, and elementary laboratories; 

 a photographic room; and ten private research rooms. The basement 

 will contain a physiological dark room, a constant temperature room, 

 and a culture room with "hospital finish," permitting ready sterilization. 



The addition of a new tract of about six acres of land has made possi- 

 ble the enlargement of the general systematic plantations of the Garden. 

 One or more beds are devoted to each plant family, with enclosures 

 formed by shrubs which a.*e related to the herbaceous plants in the 

 beds. Other sections include a native wild flower garden, an economic 

 garden, and sections for experimental evolution and plant breeding. 



The trustees have recently established the first of a number of research 

 fellowships and have authorized the appointment of the first of a 

 number of resident investigators. Prof. W. H. Rankin, of Cornell 

 University, has been appointed Research Fellow for 1916 and 1917, 

 and will undertake a survey of the diseases of trees and shrubs in the 

 parks of Brooklyn. Dr R. C. Benedict has been appointed Resident 

 Investigator and is making a study of the Boston fern, Nephrolepis, 

 and the behavior of its varieties. An arrangement has been made 

 with New York University by, which the research courses in botany 

 at that institution will be conducted at the Brookl}^! Botanic Garden. 

 The facilities at the Garden for plant breeding and plant pathologj^ 

 will determine the principal fields of work under this arrangement. 



149 



