337] , B. E. Livingston 139 



first approached the subject through the avenues of mor- 

 phological study. Perhaps it is because of this that begin- 

 ners are often led to devote several years to academic work 

 in morphological pursuits before they are allowed to be- 

 come acquainted with the physiological aspect of biology, so 

 that they discover the need of an intimate knowledge of 

 physics and chemistry only at a rather late stage in their de- 

 velopment. It is a significant fact that very few of the present 

 workers in plant physiology have been led to their interest 

 in the subject from an introductory study of the physical 

 sciences, although physiology offers some of the most im- 

 portant physical and chemical problems. 



Considering the general applicability of physical as well as 

 morphological knowledge to physiological study, it is becom- 

 ing more and more evident that a tyro in physiology should 

 be encouraged to devote much more attention to physics and 

 chemistry, in the earlier years of his preparation, than is now 

 generally the case which necessarily means that he should 

 not be encouraged to devote so much time to biological mor- 

 phology as he does in most institutions where young natural 

 scientists receive their training. 



The considerations just set forth have been given promi- 

 nence in planning the training leading to the doctorate from 

 this department, and, while no formal prerequisites are stated, 

 the need of as much knowledge of chemistry and physics 

 as the student can obtain is constantly emphasized. At the 

 same time he is urged to become well acquainted with the 

 main facts and general principles of animal physiology and 

 with those of the comparative anatomy and histology of 

 plants, as thus far available. Since climatic conditions exert 

 such controlling influences upon the behavior of plants, that 

 physical branch which is termed climatology must also re- 

 ceive much emphasis. 



It is the general plan of the department to erect no arti- 

 ficial barriers before the prospective student; the work is so 

 organized that any person who understands elementary phys- 



