1895.] Development of Vegetable Physiology. 393 
Morphological knowledge of the cell and of the stages in 
reproduction must necessarily be followed by inquiry into 
physiological processes. Already the writings of De Vries, 
Strasburger, Klebs, Véchting, Wiesner, and Vines have in- 
dicated the directions for study. The greatest impulse to 
the physiological study of reproduction, however, has been 
given by Weismann, although not himself a botanist, and not 
drawing heavily from the botanical storehouse to support his 
theories. Nigeli’s idioplastic theory of 1884, and De Vries’s 
later theories, have not of themselves been sufficient to arouse 
botanical enthusiasm. The whole domain of caliology is suf- 
fering, in fact, for leaders, men chiefly known for their re- 
searches in this field. The science needs a Linnzus, a Sachs, 
or a Gray to bring it into prominence and to inspire enthu- 
siasm and a following. Some day it will be in vogue 
Upon turning to ecology, we find the conditions wholly 
changed. There are elements of popularity in the science 
that have made some of its topics familiar to the general 
reader, even before the boundaries of the science have been 
mapped. The fascinating and epoch-making observations of 
Charles Darwin on the pollination of orchids and other 
flowers, at the same time bringing to light the long lost Pom- 
peian-like treasures of Sprengel, gave an impulse to a line of 
study still full of promise. The extensive writings of Miller, 
Delpino, and in our own country Charles Robertson, have 
provided large stores of knowledge, and at the same time 
opened up attractive vistas for further observation. 
Thus we might enumerate many other topics, which are 
More or less familiar to every one having the slightest ac- 
quaintance with botany, and to some others as well. 
ask how these matters came to be so widely known, the an- 
swer is not far to seek, and not obscure. The marvelous in- 
world, and of all other lovers of plants as well, even of some 
who cannot be placed in either class, in this direction. We 
may call Darwin the father of vegetable ecology, for had he 
not written, the field would have lain largely uncultivated 
and uninteresting. 
