58 HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 



which is very convenient for general classification. Mrs. 

 Drude has herself made some studies in botany, and many 

 of the beautiful drawings in her husband's book were made 

 by her. The collection in the museum is excellent, though 

 the room is small. . . . 



"His idea of having some of the plant's constituents ex- 

 hibited with the plant was a particularly good one. The plan 

 of the garden is given in the little guide which the author 

 presented. But he will have in his new garden a slightly dif- 

 ferent arrangement. He had in front of his palm trees a small 

 plot of ground with one bed given to each country of the 

 world's flora. A little rise in the garden was called by Drude 

 the Alps. We had much amusement clambering up the little 

 wandering path. His rooms and library at the Polytechnic 

 were full of interest. The library is particularly fine. 



"The books are arranged according to the botany of each 

 country. The collection seemed very complete and con- 

 tained many rare and costly works. There is a set of plates, 

 painted by hand, of all flowers. Two former kings of Saxony 

 were great lovers of botany, and one had ordered this book 

 to be made. Each painting is absolutely perfect of the flowers, 

 and on the margins are paintings of the different flower 

 parts. The books number ten volumes and were lined within 

 the binding with pink satin. As the work is in manuscript, 

 it has no other title than ' Plantae Seleclae. Centurin.' Most 

 of the students in the Polytechnic are interested in botany only 

 for its practical side, but those who wish to carry on investi- 

 gations have the right to the libraries. The herbarium was 

 not new, and under Drude's orders is undergoing renovation. 

 The laboratory was small but fitted with all essential apparatus. 

 An apparatus for measuring and recording the hourly growth 

 of a plant was very delicate. The tracings of one plant showed 

 that the greatest growth occurred during the night, especially 

 between 2 and 4 A. M. The plant at night probably absorbs 

 for its growth what it makes during the day. Outside of a 

 window a glass case was built with opening doors for water- 

 culture experiments. ... 



"Drude was simply lovely. He talked with me about my 



