December ii, 1919J 



NATURE 



381 



Molds, however, are in a sense quite different, and it 

 is perhaps, therefore, not fair to compare them. It is 

 a matter of very great satisfaction to be able to 

 extend sincere congratulations to Nature on the com- 

 pletion of its fiftieth year of extraordinarily useful 

 service." 



November 8. .SociEiA Realk di NAroLi : Accademia 

 delle Scienze Kisiche e Matematiche : Secretary, 

 Senator G. Dc Lorenzo. — "Although it is somewhat 

 late, I am glad to express, on behalf of the academv, 

 my sincere congratulations on the important scientific 

 work which your esteemed journal has accomplished 

 during its fifty years of existence, ;md trust ft mav 

 have a prosperous future before it." 



■niK BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT 



BOURNEMOUTH. 



SECTION K. 



BOTANV. 



Opening .\ddress (.Vbridged) by Sir Daniel Morris, 



K.C.M.G.. M.A., D.Sc, D.C.L., LL.D., F.L.S., 



President of the Section. 



It has been made abundantlv clear that in botany, 

 as in other applied sciences, we must rclv in future less 

 on chance individual effort and initiative. We must 

 co-operate our efforts and organise them at every stage, 

 bearing in mind that we shall alwavs require the ser- 

 vices of the worker in pure science to solve those 

 larger problems of national importance which confront 

 us. We must be armed by science, or we shall be 

 placed at ;l disadvantage in the great struggle now 

 before us. We are told that it is absolutely necessary 

 for the pros|)erity and safety of the country (hat the 

 development of the resources of the Empire and the 

 production of our industries must be on a scale greatly 

 in excess of anything we have hitherto achieved, .^s 

 an Imperial people it is our duty to develop our 

 resources to the fullest extent. Fortunately, a great 

 change is taking place in the attitude of the (iovern- 

 ment and the .State towards science, and it is notice- 

 able also in the relations of science to industry and 

 commerce. Since we last met we have lost a number 

 of devoted workers in botany. .Apart from those who 

 have passed away in what may be called the course of 

 nature, a sad aspect of the los.ses sustained in the 

 war is the death of so many brave voung men for 

 whom it was anticipated that a bright and successful 

 career was open in the domain of science. Their 

 names are inscribed on the Roll of Honour, and we 

 gratefully bear them in memory. 



From the point of view of the scientific exploration 

 of the resources of the Emnire, it is satisfactory to 

 note that the publications dealing with the floras of 

 tmpical and .sub-tropical countries have been con- 

 tinued. These, involving, as Ihey do. so much labour 

 and forethought, .are of more than oassing interest from 

 tJie fact th.-it they .serve to reveal the distribution of 

 plants that may eventualh- nrove of great economic 

 value. \ close investigation of tropicd plants is neces- 

 sary, as allied species or varieties of one and the 

 same species sometimes differ appreciably as regards 

 their economic value. 



A new branch of botany has lately come into 

 prominence as om- of the results of the devotion to 

 \ature-study and the contemplation of the charac- 

 teristic features of vegetation as w" find it distributed 

 over the earth's surface. Ecology is capable of 

 enormously extending the outlook of botapv. and it 

 has so largelx- added to the interest of field work 

 that we max wonder that the phenomenon of vegeta- 

 tion so long disnlaxed Ijcfore our eves had not sug- 

 gested its sociological aspects long ago. Ecology 

 NO. 2615. VOL. T04] 



has its society and journal, and bids fair to establish 

 itself fully in the household of botany. It is Ijoped 

 that it will mitigate some of the admitted dr.awbacks 

 of purely laboratory work and revive the old natural 

 history spirit of former days. 



The remarkable spread of a comparatively new 

 marsh grass {.Sparlina Townsendii) along certain 

 portions of the southern coast deserves careful 

 study. It is supposed to lx> a hybrid between 

 S. stricta and S. alternifolia. It is claimed to 

 be pre-eminent among halophytes on account of 

 the extraordinary vigour with which it spreads over 

 mud-fiats, and eventually forms meadows to be 

 measured bv thousands of acres in .Southampton 

 Water and Poole Harbour. It is .1 question whether 

 it may not develop into ;i serious menace to navigable 

 waters. On the other h.uid, it m.av prove capable of 

 beins? utilised in suitable localities as a reclaiming 

 agent. Its economic value in providing material for 

 paper-making or as food for cattle may also, receive 

 .attention. 



The critical study of British pl.-mts was supposed 

 to be an exhausted field, but with the necessary in- 

 sight and careful and critical ob.servation there is 

 much work still to be done. Exchange clubs are ■ 

 active, ,ind additions to local floras are continuallv 

 being made. New species, varieties, and hybrids are 

 published from time to time. .\s an instance, Pota- 

 mogeton up.'saUensis, hitherto only known in Sweden, 

 has recently been found in East Dorset. Hybrid 

 orchids are being keenly studied, and the occurrence 

 of hybrids in this and other classes of plants opens a 

 wide and interesting field of investigation. 



.\ much desired piece of work is ;i continuance of 

 .Sta'-kie Gardner's interesting investigation of the 

 fossil flora of the Basjshot beds so well .shown in the 

 Bournemouth and adjoinins; cliffs. Some of these 

 have proved exceptionally rich in remains of tropical 

 and sub-tropical plants. .So far, in regard to these 

 plant remains, we may say with T,a Place; "What 

 we know is but little; what we do not know is 

 immense." 



My distinguished predecessor, whose work has been 

 largeh concerned with the systematic and philo- 

 sophical side of botany, rightly expressed the general 

 desire for .1 more cordial understanding between 

 botany and its economic applications. " It is cer- 

 tain," he said, "that our outlook must be widely 

 different after the war, and the changed environment 

 must find us ready to respond in the interest of our 

 country and mankind." 



With vour permission, and acting on a suggestion 

 made to me. I propose to travel a little outside the 

 usual scope of previous addresses and review the many 

 efforts that have been, and are still being, made to 

 promote the interests not only of the homeland, but 

 also of the Empire as a whole. Before the war it was 

 estimated there were about 3,000,000 square miles of 

 British territor\- within the tropical /one. .\ portion 

 of this area, including India, was already producing 

 commodities of the estimated value of 230,000.000/. 

 sterling. It is, therefore, in the national interest to 

 keep closely in touch with the conditions and prospects 

 of our tropical Possessions in order that we mav 

 render them still more capable of supplvinr? the raw 

 material so necessary to the maintenance of our com- 

 mercial prosperity. 



In recent times one of the most iniport.'int steps 

 t'd<en in this connection was the establishnunt, on 

 the recommendiition of a Roval Commission appointed 

 by Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, of ,in Imperial Depart- 

 ment of .\fricuhure in the \^'esl Indies. The pro- 

 vision for the upkeep of the Department, approved by 

 Parliament, was at the rate of 17,400?. per annum. 



