142 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St . Louis. 



with more precise anatomical studies, it has contributed to an 

 important if not very extensive literature, — largely, it must 

 be confessed, resting upon the studies of German-trained 

 students. 



Vegetable physiology, as a subject for serious work in this 

 country, can scarcely be traced back of the last quarter of the 

 century, except for the much earlier isolated studies of Draper ; 

 but to-day the force of several well-equipped laboratories, 

 and numerous isolated workers, are probing the difficult 

 problems the solution of which could not be compassed in the 

 century just closed. Nowhere has that phase of physioloo^ical 

 work known as bionomics or ecology been more eagerly taken 

 up than in this country, and, beginning with Dr. Gray, a 

 number of workers have enlarged our knowledge of the pol- 

 lination, dissemination and germination of plants, while the 

 last few years have witnessed a widespread and growing 

 interest in the vegetative relations of plants to their surround- 

 ings, and in the manner in which, as individuals and com- 

 munities, they compete for a foothold on the earth. 



Without going into details, I may say that America leads 

 the world in the attention given to botanical (as other) re- 

 search relating to agriculture and horticulture, and no small 

 part of the recent progress in this field has come from our 

 Government and State laboratories and experiment stations. 



In conclusion, as, perhaps, the greatest advance in botany 

 made in this country during the century, I may note the in- 

 crease and improvement in means and methods for instruction. 

 The great strides made in this direction by the Germans at 

 the close of the Franco-Prussian war, and the prestige of 

 DeBary, Sachs, Pfeffer and Strasburger in their Universities, 

 stimulated and attracted Americans to such an extent that 

 to-day no country, aside from Germany, offers so many, so 

 good, or so varied opportunities for training in scientific bot- 

 any as we possess in the United States, and a rich fruition 

 may be confidently expected in the century on which we have 

 now entered. 



Issued Nov mber 26, 19 01. 



