THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 35 



If this paragraph happens to strike the eye of the gentle- 

 man who makes note of the articles in this magazine for the 

 index to current botanical literature, we adjure him to look 

 carefully through the "Note and Comment" department of 

 each issue. Already he has missed several descriptions of new 

 forms and varieties. Just imagine how peeved some eminent 

 scientist may become when after describing some supposedly 

 new species of plant, he learns that some modest note in this 

 magazine has anticipated him. The abstractor should keep 

 clearly in mind the connection supposed to exist between valu- 

 able goods and small packages. 



>£ 5JC 5JS 



Those who have been keeping tabs on the botanical sit- 

 uation in the schools, tell us that in the past ten years the 

 number of pupils taking botany in the high schools shows a 

 decrease of 44%, and point out that if this rate continues much 

 longer there will not be any botany. A survey of the way 

 in which the subject is taught in the schools, however, inclines 

 us to wonder how the conditions could be otherwise. Botany 

 is not one of those subjects, like mathematics, which is con- 

 sidered to be absolutely essential to an education. The gen- 

 eral public regards it as a sort of ornamental, good enough tc 

 amuse young ladies who wish to avoid a more strenuous 

 course of study. This opinion is reflected in the support 

 usually given the teacher of the subject. The teachers of man- 

 ual training and domestic science have laboratories, often 

 costing thousands of dollars, fitted up for their use, but the 

 teacher of botany is rarely given a greenhouse, a botanical 

 garden, or any other collection of growing plants. As a matter 

 of fact, a large number of botanical courses are given without 

 a living plant in sight. Even the specimens used in the study 

 the teacher is expected to gather in the spare time which other 

 teachers devote to reading, writing and the movies. Field 

 trips disarrange the school program and incur the hostility 



