4 TIPPO 



nection with the annual meeting of the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science, either preceding or following it, to avoid conflict. . . . 

 In order that the high character which is hoped for in the society may be 

 attained, it is desirable that the intention of rigid scrutiny in admitting 

 members should be adhered to, and it is also necessary that each member of 

 the society shall feel that it is worthy of his best effort in research." ^ 



The drafted constitution contained the above provisions, and in addition, 

 it was stated that "Its object is the advancement of botanical knowledge. 

 Only American botanists engaged in research, who have published work of 

 recognized merit, shall be eligible to active membership." ^"^ 



On August 15, 1894, ten of the charter members met in Brooklyn, New 

 York (Rodgers, 1944b, p. 319). The constitution was adopted, and WilHam 

 Trelease was elected the first president of the Botanical Society of America.^^ 



On August 27-28, 1895, the newly organized Botanical Society held its 

 first annual meeting at Springfield, Massachusetts, with thirteen members 

 present. Nine scientific papers were presented, including one by N. L. Britton 

 on the New York Botanical Garden and one on the Laboulbeniaceae by 

 Roland Thaxter. The minutes of that meeting carry the following item: "A 

 book having already been presented to the Society, the Council recommends 

 that all books and pamphlets sent to the Society be deposited in the library 

 of the Missouri Botanical Garden, subject to the order of the Council, and 

 that a list of the annual additions be reported to the Society at each annual 

 meeting." ^- Charles E. Bessey was elected president for the next year. 



The second annual meeting was held in Buffalo in August, 1896, with 

 twenty-five members present. John M. Coulter was elected president. William 

 Trelease delivered the first presidential address of the Society on the topic 

 "Botanical Opportunity." It appears that the Society was early plagued with 

 mishaps in arrangements, for the minutes of the meeting contain this nota- 

 tion: "The Secretary announced that the failure of the Local Committee 

 to furnish a projecting lantern, tho' repeatedly promised, would prevent the 

 reading of Atkinson's paper and seriously interfere with MacMillan's. The 

 latter, however, consented to present the chief facts without the aid of the 

 slides." " The Council received and accepted declination of membership 

 from D. H. Campbell, W. R. Dudley, and W. A. Setchell, "based upon the 

 extreme distance from meeting places of the Society." ^* "Britton asked that 

 the Society consider the relations of the proposed botanical society to meet 

 in connection with the Eastern Naturalists Society and its effect upon the 



9 Bot. Soc. Amer. Piib. No. 2. 1893. 



^''Bot. Soc. Amer. Pub. No. 3. 



"5of. Gaz. 19:388. 1894. 



^^Bot. Soc. Amer. Minutes, 1894-1926, p. 10. 



" Ibid., p. 20. 



"^^ Ibid., p. 15. 



