﻿PLANTS 
  OF 
  CHINA 
  — 
  WALKER 
  331 
  

  

  THE 
  BEGINNINGS 
  OF 
  SCIENTIFIC 
  STUDY 
  BY 
  THE 
  CHINESE 
  

  

  Until 
  about 
  1918 
  practically 
  all 
  the 
  scientific 
  botanical 
  work 
  in 
  China 
  

   was 
  done 
  by 
  foreigners 
  from 
  Europe 
  and 
  America, 
  who 
  took 
  back 
  to 
  

   their 
  home 
  countries 
  all 
  their 
  valuable 
  collections. 
  But 
  following 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  Revolution 
  in 
  1911, 
  the 
  idea 
  was 
  developed 
  of 
  initiating 
  simi- 
  

   lar 
  work 
  by 
  Chinese 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  modernization 
  of 
  China. 
  In 
  1916 
  

   the 
  staff 
  of 
  Canton 
  Christian 
  College, 
  now 
  called 
  Lingnan 
  University, 
  

   started 
  accumulating 
  a 
  herbarium 
  with 
  the 
  encouragement 
  of 
  W. 
  T. 
  

   Swingle, 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture, 
  and 
  of 
  E. 
  D. 
  

   Merrill, 
  then 
  director 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Science 
  in 
  Manila, 
  and 
  estab- 
  

   lished 
  a 
  department 
  of 
  botany 
  where 
  students 
  were 
  trained 
  to 
  do 
  re- 
  

   search 
  work. 
  F. 
  A. 
  McClure, 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  staff, 
  a 
  plant 
  explorer 
  of 
  

   many 
  parts 
  of 
  South 
  China, 
  especially 
  of 
  Hainan, 
  and 
  collaborator 
  

   with 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture, 
  undertook 
  the 
  in- 
  

   vestigation 
  of 
  the 
  bamboos 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  training 
  Chinese 
  stu- 
  

   dents 
  in 
  scientific 
  research. 
  About 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  Nanking 
  University, 
  

   another 
  mission 
  school, 
  and 
  National 
  Southeastern 
  University, 
  a 
  gov- 
  

   ernment 
  institution, 
  now 
  called 
  National 
  Central 
  University, 
  started 
  

   herbaria 
  and 
  undertook 
  similar 
  work. 
  Gradually 
  other 
  schools, 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  those 
  under 
  the 
  Government, 
  inspired 
  by 
  the 
  examples 
  of 
  the 
  

   earlier 
  ones 
  and 
  staffed 
  by 
  their 
  graduates 
  or 
  by 
  botanists 
  trained 
  

   abroad, 
  instituted 
  botanical 
  research. 
  In 
  the 
  beginning 
  various 
  for- 
  

   eign 
  foundations 
  fostered 
  these 
  developments 
  by 
  direct 
  or 
  indirect 
  

   means, 
  and 
  later, 
  Chinese 
  scientific 
  societies 
  and 
  other 
  organizations 
  

   aided 
  their 
  growth. 
  Soon 
  the 
  initiative 
  in 
  botanical 
  work 
  was 
  taken 
  

   by 
  trained 
  Chinese 
  botanists, 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  with 
  degrees 
  from 
  American 
  

   or 
  European 
  universities. 
  At 
  first 
  these 
  herbaria 
  were 
  dependent 
  on 
  

   foreign 
  specialists 
  for 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  naming 
  of 
  their 
  collection, 
  because 
  

   the 
  basic 
  collections 
  needed 
  for 
  comparison 
  were 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  Amer- 
  

   ica, 
  and 
  library 
  facilities 
  in 
  China 
  were 
  inadequate. 
  But 
  gradually 
  

   these 
  obstacles 
  have 
  been 
  overcome 
  by 
  obtaining 
  photographs 
  or 
  dupli- 
  

   cates 
  of 
  important 
  collections 
  or 
  by 
  making 
  new 
  collections 
  which 
  were 
  

   carefully 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  older 
  ones, 
  and 
  by 
  buying 
  books 
  or 
  getting 
  

   photostats 
  or 
  other 
  reproductions. 
  Now 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  China 
  have 
  

   been 
  explored 
  by 
  Chinese 
  botanists 
  and 
  large 
  collections 
  of 
  valuable 
  

   material 
  have 
  been 
  accumulated. 
  These 
  workers 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  

   penetrate 
  areas 
  either 
  not 
  accessible 
  to 
  foreigners 
  or 
  not 
  worth 
  their 
  

   exploring 
  because 
  of 
  their 
  primary 
  interest 
  in 
  horticulturally 
  useful 
  

   material 
  from 
  temperate 
  regions. 
  

  

  There 
  has 
  thus 
  been 
  a 
  steadily 
  increasing 
  interest 
  in 
  Chinese 
  botany 
  

   from 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  Portuguese 
  trader 
  to 
  the 
  establishing 
  of 
  

   modern 
  herbaria 
  and 
  scientific 
  research 
  by 
  Chinese 
  institutions. 
  Much 
  

   has 
  already 
  been 
  learned, 
  but 
  there 
  still 
  remains 
  extensive 
  work 
  to 
  

   be 
  done. 
  

  

  