402 BOTANICAL BIOLOGY. 



inaliing" - - - was "of no less importance to the author of the 

 'Origin of Species' than was the bearing of the Cirripede work upon 

 the principles of a natural classification." 



At present the outlook for systematic botany is somewhat discourag- 

 ing. France, Germany, and Austria, no longer possess anything like a 

 school on the subject, though they still supply able and distinguished 

 workers. Tliat these are however few, may be judged from the fact 

 that it is difficult to fill the place of the lamented Eichler in the direc- 

 tion of the botanic garden and herbarium at Berlin. Outside our own 

 country, Switzerland is the most important seat of general systematic 

 study, to which three generations of De Candolles have devoted them- 

 selves. The most active centers of work at the moment are, however, 

 to be found in our own country, in the United States, and in Kussia. 

 And the reason is in each case no doubt the same. The enormous area 

 of the earth's surface over which each country holds sway brings to 

 them a vast amount of material which peremptorily demands discus- 

 sion. 



No country however affords such admirable facilities for work in 



sytematic botany as are now to be found in London. Tlie Linnean So- 

 ciety possesses the herbarium of Linnams; the Botanical Department 

 of the British Museum is rich in the collections cf the older botanists ; 

 while at Kew we have a constantly-increasing assemblage of material, 

 either the results of travel and expeditions, or the contributions of cor- 

 respondents in different parts of the Empire. A very large proportion 

 of this has been worked up. But I am painfully impressed with the 

 fact that the total of our available workers bears but a small proportion 

 to the labor ready to their hands. 



This is the more a matter of concern, because for the few official posts 

 which are open to botanists at home or abroad, a practical knowledge of 

 systemntic botany is really indispensable. For suitable candidates for 

 these, one naturally looks to the universities. And so far, I am sorry 

 to say, in great measure one looks in vain. It would be no doubt a 

 great impulse to what is undoubtedly an important branch of national 

 scientific work if fellowships could occasionally be given to men who 

 showed some aptitude for it. But these should not be mere prizes for 

 undergraduate study, but should exact some guaranty that during the 

 tenure of the fellowship the holder would seriously devote himself to 

 some definite piece of work. At present, undoubtedly, the younger 

 generation of botanists show a disposition to turn aside to those fields 

 in which more brilliant and more immediate results can be attained. 

 Their neglect of systematic botany brings to some extent its own Ne- 

 mesis. A first principle of systematic botany is that a name should de- 

 note a definite and ascertainable species of plant. But in })liysiological 

 literature you will find that the importance of fhis is often overlooked. 

 Names are employed which are either not to be found in the books, or 

 they are altogether mis-applied. But if proper precautions are taken to 



