Vol. XXII. No. 1.] 



POPULAE SCIETnTCE NEWS. 



we took our leave of him, and began our homeward 

 journey, via Moscow, Warsaw, and Berlin. 



Space will not permit the recital here of our 

 pleasant experiences at Manchester in attendance 

 upon the meeting of the British Association, nor 

 of my visit to Lord Rosse and his great reflectors 

 at Birr Castle. It must suffice to say that we all 

 reached home safely and well, and that our instru- 

 ments followed in due time, — a little slowly, but 

 without accident or damage. 



It would be unpardonable to omit a mention of 

 the generous liberality which provided the neces- 

 sary funds. The money came mainly from the 

 same friends who have already done so much for 

 the scientific departments of Princeton College. 

 But there were other contributors also; in fact, the 

 expedition really originated in a gentleman's spon- 

 taneous offer of two hundred and fifty dollars to- 

 wards meeting the expenses of the undertaking, if 

 it should be found practicable to organize a party. 



[Original in Popular Science Jiew>i,] 



BOTANY AS A RECRE.\TION. 



BY FREDERICK LEROY SARGENT. 

 I. 

 " Botany is by many regarded as a dry science. Yet 

 without it, one may admire flowers and trees as one 

 may admire a great man or a beautiful woman whom 

 one meets in a crowd ; but it is as a stranger. The 

 botanist, on the contrary, — nay, I will not say the 

 botanist, but one with even a sliglit knowledge of that 

 beautiful science, — when he goes out Into the woods 

 or into one of those fairy forests which we call fields, 

 finds himself welcomed by a glad company of friends, 

 everyone with something interesting to tell." — Snt 

 JoHK Lubbock, Pleasures of Life. 



At the close of his charming book on ferns, Mr. 

 Johu Robinson makes the following plea for hob- 

 bies: "There is a large class of persons who are 

 so fortunate (or unfortunate, according as they use 

 or abuse the privilege) as to have nothing to do; or, 

 to speak more exactly, have to do only what they 

 choose. This class must have a hobby, or they 

 will rufl out. Another class are engrossed by in- 

 cessant professional work, which leaves them every 

 day cross and tired. These should have some out- 

 side hobby, or they will become one-sided and 

 crabbed, and wear out. Ur Jacob Bigelow of 

 Boston, being a hard and earnest worker in his 

 profession, determined, for his own good, to select 

 some sensible form of recreation, and chose the 

 study of botany, as necessitating long walks and 

 refreshing thoughts. The result was the publica- 

 tion, in 1814, of his Florula Bosloniensis , which, 

 enlarged and improved in later editions, became 

 the standard reference-book for all botanists in that 

 portion of the country, and for more than a third 

 of a century held its ground undisputed, until the 

 larger and more modern works of Dr. Gray su- 

 perseded it. Dr. Bigelow published other works 

 and, although these are not now in use as text- 

 books, they still hold an important place among 

 books of reference. All this came from a hobby. 

 Without an object, we walk aimlessly, we read 

 aimlessly, we think aimlessly. Without a hobby, 

 no great man would be great." It is to such as 

 feel a need for some profitable means of recrea- 

 tion, that we would address ourselves, and try to 

 show how far botanical studies are calculated to 

 meet their wants. 



The study of botany becomes truly a recreation, 

 and awakens within us a sustained and absorbing 

 interest, largely in proportion as we actually exam- 

 ine plants, and ponder over them, and not merely 

 read about them. The true value of botanical 

 writings, at least for the beginner, is their impor- 

 tance in directing attention to what there is to be 

 seen; telling how to observe, and what has been 

 thought about these things by experienced bota- 



nists. The present article aims to be of service 

 mainly in the first of these capacities; on the 

 second count, it can be directly of use only so far 

 as a few practical hints may prove helpful ; while 

 in all these points it may be indirectly of value 

 through references to books which are of especial 

 aid to American students. 



A much too restricted idea of the range of bot- 

 any is widely held, even by educated people To 

 know merely the names of the different kinds of 

 plants is commonly considered to be about all there 

 is of the subject. This is unfortunate, as it leaves 

 out of view some of the most valuable departments 

 of the science. A definition which is well calcu- 

 lated to correct this erroneous impression, and put 

 the matter in its true light, is the following, which 

 Professor Goodale gives to his classes : " Botany 

 is the science whose business it is to deal with all 

 the reasonable questions that may be asked about 

 plants." 



Now, until one has studied the subject, it is 

 scarcely possible to realize what a vast number of 

 questions botanists have already answered, and 

 what a still vaster number remain to be answered, 

 and are to-day engaging the attention of botanical 

 students all over the world. The class of questions 

 to which mankind first gave earnest attention 

 were such as relate to those properties of plants 

 that render them useful or dangerous. To-day 

 such considerations form that comparatively small 

 part of the subject which we call economic botany. 

 Questions involved in the naming of plants, and 

 the orderly arrangement of the myriads of differ- 

 ent kinds according to their degrees of resem- 

 blance, belong to the department of systematic 

 botany, and have occupied, so far, the principal 

 attention of botanical workers. Within recent 

 years, along with the growth of chemical knowl- 

 edge and the perfection of the microscope, there 

 has l)een developed a steadily increasing interest in 

 all questions pertaining to the life of plants, their 

 structure, and the significance of the forms as- 

 sumed by their various organs. Physiological 

 botany is the department which deals with these 

 matters. Other departments are, geographical 

 botany, dealing with the distribution of plants 

 over the earth; and fossil botany, which is con- 

 cerned with the plants of past geologic ages: and 

 still other classes of questions could be referred to, 

 but enough has been said to show that botany is 

 much more than the "plant analysis" of the 

 schools, and that there is in it a variety of interest 

 suflicient to satisfy very diverse tastes. 



For our present purpose, it will be enough to 

 consider only the two principal departments, — 

 namely, systematic and physiological botany, — 

 since these ofier the best opportunities for practical 

 work on the part of a beginner. 



SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



Perhaps the most obvious of the pleasures which 

 the study of plant-kinds is calculated to afford, is 

 the satisfaction of knowing at sight the plants we 

 meet, or, at least, of having it in our power to find 

 out what names they bear. Apropos of one of her 

 trips to the country, George Eliot says: "I never 

 before longed so much to know the names of things 

 as during this visit to Ilfracombe. The desire is 

 part of a tendency that is now constantly growing 

 in me to escape from all vagueness and inaccuracy, 

 into the delight of distinct, vivid ideas. The mere 

 fact of naming an object, tends to give definiteness 

 to our conception of it. We have, then, a sign 

 which at once calls up in our minds, and marks out 

 for us that particular object from all others." 



An enthusiastic searcher after plants gets much 

 the same sort of pleasure in his excursions into 

 field and wood as does the hunter or fisherman: 



and in the capture of a rare flower, often as great 

 prowess is displayed. Since much of our game is 

 becoming scarce, almost to extinction, it is next to 

 impossible for many of us to gratify the hunting 

 instinct with either rod or gun ; and as the humane 

 spirit develops among us, there is less desire to 

 indulge in sport which involves the infliction of 

 pain. With us the love of hunting is so largely a 

 love of outdoors, it seems as if botanizing were well 

 calculated to afford a sufficient motive. 



We must not, however, forget the pleasures of 

 indoor botany. Having collected a plant is but a 

 first step toward the enjoyment which comes from 

 the study of its hidden beauties. 



From the outset of a student's introduction to 

 systematic botany, he encounters technical terms 

 which must be learned before he can understand 

 the descriptions in the books that he will have to 

 use. We often hear this circumstance apologized 

 for by writers who wish to present the study in an 

 attractive light. Such writers seem to forget that 

 technicalities are a necessity wherever we are called 

 upon to talk with definiteness upon any subject 

 outside'of every-day conversation. We do not hear 

 apologies offered for the technicalities of music, or 

 even of a game of cards ; but when it comes to the 

 study of plants, it appears to many that there is 

 something almost sad about their having to use so 

 many words that are new to them. 



It may be admitted that botanical terms, when 

 forced upon one to be learned by rote, may be very 

 tedious; and when, as in certain schools, such work 

 is made to do duty for " botany," it is no wonder 

 that pupils should vote the study an unmitigated 

 bore. But there is a way in which one may obtain 

 the same kind of pleasure in learning these tech- 

 nical terms as in learning the names of plants. 



We will suppose that the student is provided 

 with such a book as Gray's Lessons in Botany, 

 which contains all the technical terms that a be- 

 ginner needs to know, and explains them fully. 

 It is not enough to merely read the book, and learn 

 the definitions; for this is not only very dry work, 

 but it fails to give a clear understanding of the 

 practical application. AVhat is needed is, for the 

 student to search the fields and woods, or garden 

 and greenhouse, for actual examples of what is 

 mentioned in the book. Suppose he is on the sub- 

 ject of leaves: let him collect a number of different 

 kinds, and try to describe each with regard to its 

 venation, general outline, base, apex, marein, upper 

 and lower surface, and other peculiarities that may 

 suggest themselves. If at loss for a term, the book 

 may be consulted; and if no term is provided for 

 the peculiarity in question, "plain English" may 

 be made to answer the purpose. Even a poor 

 memory is forced to retain what is often repeated ; 

 and the student will find that before long he can 

 take any leaf that comes to hand, and describe it 

 accurately and tersely. When, in this manner, a 

 student has become familiar with the forms of 

 roots, stems, leaves, inflorescence, floral organs, and 

 fruit, he is well prepared to learn the use of those 

 books which describe the kinds of plants, and give 

 us their names. 



THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD. 



BY 8. P. 8HARPLE8, 8.B. 



A FEW years ago I was called upon, in a case 

 before the United States courts, to investigate the 

 subject of canned sweet-corn. Although this was 

 only about fifteen years ago, the whole subject was 

 a comparatively new one. Dr. Jeffries Wyman 

 had published his researches on spontaneous gener- 

 ation: but even he, with all his skill, did not suc- 

 ceed in properly preparing his solutions; and from 

 this reason many of his experiments were failures. 



