Miscellaneous Papers. 389 



DARWINISM AND EXPERIMENTATION IN BOTANY. 



Synopsis of a Lecture before the Academy by Dr. D. T. MacDougal, Director of Laboratories, 

 New York Botanical Garden. 



\ SURVEY of the present-day activities in any field of natural 

 ^^-^ science would afiPord but meager data by the aid of which the 

 actual trend of biological thought might be recognized, the most 

 efficient methods of advance be determined, or research effort di- 

 rected with certainty to the exploitation of the phenomena of living 

 things offering the most immediate promise of widening human 

 knowledge. Conceptions of this character may be gained only by 

 the alignment in perspective of past achievements, or by noting 

 landmarks along the devious way followed in the trial and error 

 method by whiqh practically all we know has been acquired. 



It will be profitable, therefore, to focus attention upon the par- 

 ticular phase of development of biological science characterized by 

 the establishment of the theory of descent and the full presentation 

 of the inclusive generalizations of Darwin, especially with regard 

 to natural selection, since the period in which this occurred was 

 one in which a rapid and notable change in the prevailing attitude 

 of the human mind toward natural phenomena took place. 



Previous to the appearance of "The Origin of Species," and to 

 the opening of limitless fields of research by efforts of Darwin, 

 Julius von Sach's scholars were busily engaged in recording meager 

 facts, in "interpreting the face of nature," the making of didactic 

 comment taking the place of establishing relations between cause 

 and effect, Dutrochet being the only physiologist whose efforts in 

 this period are worthy of mention. Now, simple results of observa- 

 tions not in sequence, no matter whether concerned with the out- 

 line or minutise of leaf structure, flower detail, vascular anatomy, 

 chromatin structure, chromosome involution, seasonal activity, or 

 geographical distribution, do not give at first hand results of much 

 appreciable value; whatever importance may accrue to data thus 

 secured will be due to the manner in which they may be collocated. 

 Properly carried out, this may reveal some forms of relativity, and 

 forge the link between cause and effect in certain phases of biology. 

 This may be rarely done effectively, however, and as long ago as 

 recognized by Agassiz, it is peculiarly subject to the danger that 

 comes from the investigator imposing his own ideas upon nature, 

 of making colligations of the most unrelated facts, and of waixliring 



