I'KKSlUilNTiAL ADURKSS SlXTlON C. 75 



iVlaii}- systematists work .jui the geographical distribution 

 of their jjlants in connecti«m witli tne preparation of their 

 Check-hsts and Floras. 



Dr. Phillips has been engaged in studying the distribution 

 of the flora ot the Basutoland Alountains. and is now working 

 on that of the higher mountains of tlie Western Province. 



MoKl'lIOLOGN', PlIYSJOLtX^A', A.\.\TO.MV A.\l) tl 1 STi ilJ )GV. 



An instructive line of study is that of the relation between 

 ecological factors and the form, structure and growth of plants. 

 The importance of this subject has been so fully recognized by 

 American botanists that they induced the Carnegie Institution 

 to establish antl maintain a laboratory in the great American 

 Desert (at Tuczon, Arizona), for the special purpose of investi- 

 gating these problems in relation to desert ])lants. 



A useful piece of work from the point of view of both 

 lecturer and student of botany would be the collection and publi- 

 cation of lists of native South African ])lants suitable for the 

 illustration of various plant structures and adaptations^ — e.g., 

 xerophily. seed dispersal, types of leaf-form, etc. 



A study of the anatomy of otir native plants known or 

 believed to be poisonotis or of medicinal value is of great prac- 

 tical importance. At the present time many criminals, especially 

 among natives, go unjuniished because we are unable to identify 

 the pieces of bark or root used by them with criminal intent. 

 So also we are unable to identify roots of native plants used for 

 medicinal purposes. 



Co-OrDT NATION OF ExiSTINT, SCIENTIFIC W'OKK. 



To be successful and effective, scientific w^ork nul-^t be car- 

 ried out with a clear vision of the end to be attained. Unless 

 there is a carefully mapped progrannue there will be much wasted 

 effort, much repetition, much duplication of the work of others, 

 all involving waste of time, and tending towards general inefifi- 

 ciency. There is st^ much to be done in a new country, and 

 there are so few to do it, that duplication of efYort shotild be 

 1 educed to the bare minimum by co-ordinating scientific work 

 while leaving every worker free scope to exercise hi^ individu- 

 ality as regards detail. 



In a thicklv poptdattd ctiinur\ . with a large niunber of well- 

 educated and leisured people, there may not be the same objec- 

 tion to as many working on the same subject as may care to do 

 so. But where workers are few and far between, there is no 

 legitimate excuse. We cannot — and do not wish to — prevent 

 the \oluntarv worker or the amateur scientist from taking up 

 any line of investigation he may choose ; but by presenting un- 

 totiched fields to his vision he may be attracted into them. And 

 under existing conditions Governments are not warranted in al- 

 lowing institutions under their control unnecessarily to duplicate 

 the work of one another, nor in allowing grants-in-aid to be 



