PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS SECTION C. 65 



is so rich that the number of new facts and new problems appear 

 overwhelming. It is easy to add to the sum total of our botanical 

 knowledge in South Africa. Almost any pathway is bound to be 

 a new one. What is really difficult is to get on the hill-tops and 

 survey the South African botanical landscape as a whole. 



With the rise of our University system and the development 

 of our colleges and schools, botanical knowledge in South Africa 

 ceased to be confined to a small handful of workers. The subject 

 could not possibly develop gradually on South African lines. The 

 great majority of the teachers from the University downwards had 

 to be imported, and the subject was transplanted with them. It 

 had grown up under a very different environment elsewhere. Just 

 as European plants, when imported into South Africa, take some 

 time to change their seasonal variations to suit our reversed seasons, 

 so it has taken Botany many years to react properly to its new 

 environment in South Africa. To begin with, syllabuses were 

 drawn up exactly on the lines of those of overseas institutions. 

 Till quite recently, for instance, Pellia was the chief type of Hepatic 

 studied in elementary classes, though Pellia does not occur any- 

 where in South Africa. Large quantities of botanical material 

 for classes in practical botany were purchased overseas and 

 imported. Though this state of affairs is gradually becoming a 

 thing of the past, even now we have no satisfactory South African 

 textbook of Botany. 



Nevertheless, considering the comparative shortness of the 

 time since its introduction and the many difficulties that had to 

 be overcome, on the whole South African botanical teaching ha;; 

 made good progress. Our aim in the future should be, while 

 keeping in mind the importance of obtaining a sound general 

 knowledge of the subject, to make Botany in South Africa more 

 and more distinctly South African. 



This applies not only to teaching but to research work as well. 

 If we approach our work in the right spirit we may look forward 

 with confidence to the future. "Out of Africa always something 

 new" will, I feel sure, continue to be true as far as Botany is 

 concerned. 



Botany in Natal. 



Each of the various botanical centres in South Africa has its 

 own problems which are being tackled. Since we are meeting 

 to-day in Durban I think it may be considered appropriate that I 

 should deal with some of the work that has been and is being done 

 in Natal. The history of Botany in Natal begins with J. F. Drege, 

 who, in 1832, accompanied by Dr. Andrew Smith, made a collect- 

 ing trip along the coastbelt as far as the Umgeni, north of Durban. 

 He was followed in 1839 by Ferdinand Krauss, whose account of 

 bis trip was published in 1846. Shortly after Pietermaritzburg 

 was founded, and the country rapidly opened up by white settlers. 

 The blacks were practically confined to Zululand at this time, those 

 of Natal having been wiped out by Chaka. Very soon the pioneer 

 colonists turned their attention to the rich vegetation which sur- 



