[Vol. 2 



22 ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN 



but at present a botanical garden must in the first place be 

 beautiful. Although beauty is not the end of everything, we 

 begin with beauty and end with science both practical and 

 theoretical. Besides the flower beds and hothouses the casual 

 visitor notices certain buildings of considerable size scattered 

 here and there. What they are for is not perhaps known to 

 many of those attracted by the floral display. Without these 

 buildings and their contents and the experts in charge of them 

 there could be no floral display of any real importance. Al- 

 though they add little to the beauty of the Garden, in these 

 buildings is done the work which gives to the Garden its scien- 

 tific value and entitles it to recognition throughout the botan- 

 ical world. The very valuable library and herbarium are, in 

 a sense, the soul of the Garden, since from them is obtained a 

 knowledge of the plants cultivated, and they are a necessity 

 to those carrying on research in the laboratories. 



At this late hour I cannot enter into details. It should be 

 said, however, that for the library and herbarium, fire-proof 

 buildings, always expensive, are necessary since if destroyed 

 they could not be replaced by insurance. The laboratories for 

 research are in a somewhat different position. The value of 

 research in vegetable physiology and pathology and other sub- 

 jects other than systematic botany, which is, of course, carried 

 on in the herbarium, cannot be overestimated. Convenient 

 and well-equipped laboratories are a necessity in a modern 

 garden. They do not, however, require expensive fire-proof 

 buildings. The outfit of the laboratories should be up to date, 

 but new and improved instruments are invented from year to 

 year and an occasional conflagration is not to be dreaded since 

 the insurance on the older instruments can be used for pur- 

 chasing better new ones. Furthermore, the trend of original 

 research is constantly changing and, in trying to adapt them- 

 selves to the current demands of the scientific public, the na- 

 ture of the work done in research laboratories and in conse- 

 quence their equipment vary from time to time. 



As I look at my audience, I am reminded of something I saw 

 in the train coming to St. Louis the other day. I picked up 

 what I believe was the last number of 'Life,' and glanced at 



