JAN 11 1909 
Volume 4 | No. 7 
MUHLENBERGIA LIBRARY 
NEW YORK 
A. A. HELLER, Editor BOTANICAL 
SS GARDEN, 
RENO, NEVADA, JANUARY 6, 1909 
PAOPECTS OF THE SPECIES OUESTION” 
By A. A. HELLER 
In a recent article in Torreya by Professor Cockerell, men- 
tion was made of a discussion of this subject in The American 
Naturalist for April, 1908. At the first opportunity, which was 
but recently, I consulted that journal, and found to my surprise 
that nearly the entire issue, or 64 pages to be exact, were taken 
up with the matter, which consists of six papers read at the 
meeting of the Botanical Society of America on January 1, 1908. 
The question naturally arises, Why was this not printed in 
a botanical journal? Either the Botanical Gazette or the Bul- 
letin of the Torrey Botanical Club could have been utilized for 
the purpose. There are quite a few botanists who see The 
Scientific American rarely $f at all, for it is impossible for an 
individual of limited means to subscribe for even all the maga- 
zines devoted to the particular subject in which he is interested. 
Therefore, and I think I do not stand alone in voicing this sen- 
timent, articles primarily of interest to botanists should be pub- 
lished in botanical journals. . 
In all, six papers were presented, Professor C. E. Bessey and 
Dr. N. L. Britton speaking about the taxonomic aspect of the 
question, Professor J. C. Arthur and Dr. D. T. MacDougal on 
the physiologic side, and Professor F. E. Clements and Dr. H. 
C. Cowles upon the ecologic side. Every botanist should if at 
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