Of THi; ScinNci- of Plant Bactfriology 28^ 



consistini; of Halstcd, Galloway, Atkinson, and Bcsscy, to study 

 and report on nomenclature of plant diseases. A preliminary 

 report, with a recommendation that the study be continued, was 

 presented at the Brooklyn meeting of August 1894.'' Leadership 

 in forwarding this was assumed by Halstcd who each year since 

 1891 had been publishing at the New Jersey experiment station 

 illustrated reports on diseases of plants.'" The committee con- 

 tinued its work in 189^. Hut at the Springfield Massachusetts, 

 meeting of Section G, plant physiology was the main topic. Dr. 

 Arthur spoke '" on its status and future in American and European 

 science. * 



Since the Rochester and Madison meetings, newly promulgated 

 rules of nomenclature in phanerogamic botany and a proposed list 

 of plant names had been under discussion. The favorable action 

 taken toward these rules was regarded by Smith as not final. At 

 his own expense he published a vigorous protest.-' It is unneces- 

 sary in this book to deal with the major point of this controversy. 

 Suffice it to say that his protest was commended by many of the 

 nation's outstanding botanists. He saw^ no fundamental need 

 for nomenclatural reforms, however much some changes in rules 

 (priority, for instance) were approvable. In 1894 and 1895 he 

 had discussed questions of nomenclature before the Botanical 

 Seminar and the Biological Society of Washington. In 1894, 

 before the seminar, he had also read a paper on " Brefeld's 

 classification of fungi." He wanted permanence and stability in 

 nomenclature, especially plant names. But, even more, he wanted 

 botanists now to devote their energies to the " thousand and one 

 problems in bio-chemistry, anatomy, morphology, physiology, 

 ecology, cytology and ontology " of the " new botany." "' He 

 knew that to pursue his interest in the " biological side of botany " 

 frequently the correct plant name had to be ascertained. But 

 energies were not conserved for the more important tasks when 

 much time was wasted searching through various classification 



"Prof. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci, 43rd meet., 296-297, 1894. 



"Fifty years of pathology, op. cil., 21. 



'" Development of vegetable physiology, Proc. A?Ker. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 44th meet., 

 163-184, 1895. 



-^ The Botanical Club Check List: a protest, privately printed, Washington, D. C, 

 July 22, 1895. 



""'Idem. 2. 



