233 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



lotus foil icularis. With regard to the morphology of the parts of the 

 leaf of Nepenthes, he comes to the conclusion that in this well known 

 genus "we have to deal with a leaf the lamina of which is interrupted 

 in the middle of its course by becoming reduced to its midrib, and 

 that while the proxmial ])ortion of the lamina retains its typical form 

 of a Hat expansion, the distal portion becomes pellately exj^anded in- 

 to a funnel or i)itcher. " 



As WE ARE going to press Dr. Farlow's monogr;ii)h on New 

 England Alga^ comes to hand. As it is so late in the season he dis- 

 tributes them without bindnig. As soon as copies can be bound they 

 will be on snle at the Naturalist's Bureau, Salem, Mass. An artifi- 

 cial key makes it of use even to those who have no intimate knowledge 

 of the structure of Ali^re. Every ])erson on the sea shore this .sum- 

 mer, who is at all scientifically inclined, should have a copy of this 

 nionograi)h. 



Homo and Foreii>-ii Modos of Toacliinji' Rotaiiy. HI. - 



Though somewhat out of the usual order for a hotanical journal to 

 discuss modes of teaching, I offer the following, on the simple ground 

 that the time appears to be ripe for it. Until within the last ten years 

 botany in the United States has been with the many students and 

 with most of the teachers a mere science of nomenchture, hardly 

 rising to the dignity of true systematic study. This doubtless arises from 

 two causes : first, because of want of means to enter upon other fields c f 

 work in the vegetable kingdom ; and second, because the mass of 

 students simply caught the enthusiasm of the great teachers whose 

 energies were bent upon reducing to some respectable order the vege- 

 table cohorts of the land, though the former for want of time were un- 

 alile to reach the inspiration which was founded upon the deepest in- 

 sight into the anatomy and physiology of ])lants. Even this measure 

 of attainment is commend ilMe and has at least led to the caixtcity for 

 discovering what others have to say about any given plant, and so 

 j)aved the way for the more thorough modes of these coming years. 

 We are commencing to feel that even without a name a plant may 

 teach us much that is worth knowing, to which knowledge it is all the 

 better that we sha'l add the name as well. 



How shall we teach botanv then that it may meet modern wanti?, 

 and associate itself properly with its biological ideas which are now 

 doing so much to shape modern mental culture ? 



Our best a])peal here is to the facts, and I believe I am safe in 

 saying that the whole, or nearly the whole American imjiiilse in bot 

 any owes its origin, directly or indirectly, to Cambridge. Certainly 

 it has been a ])rolific teacher of teachers ; so prolific that we may 

 well ask its methods. These may be summed u])in the one sentence : 

 T/ic teacher 7i.'ill keep you on the track, but you must find out for yourself. 



The same fundamental idea characterizes the celebrated labora- 

 tories of Cermany, and notablv. the oldest and probably the most 

 productive one. that of Prof, dellary. One essential difference ob- 

 tains however between the American and Cerman laboratories ; we give 



