1889.] BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 293 



■ 



Shaw's immense fortune (estimated from three to five millions) was left 

 as an endowment of the botanic garden and the school of botany which 

 have borne his name. Provision was made in the will for the adminis- 

 tration of this trust by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. Some fear 

 was felt that the magnificent garden would be given to the city of St. 

 Louis, in which case there was little hope that it would prove any more 

 helpful to scientific study than has the public garden of Boston. But the 

 dispositions made by the will are all that could be desired, and the plans 

 now sketched by the trustees are full of brightest promise. In such plans 

 we unite, with all our readers, in bidding them Godspeed. 



Here is the first large endowment of botanical research that this new 

 country has seen, and the outcome will be looked for with profound in- 

 terest. Of necessity, the policy of the trustees can only be outlined at this 

 time, but we think all will agree that the lines are struck boldly on the 

 canvas and that they indicate a most pleasing picture. Naturally the 

 development must be slow. Such broad lines as these can not be filled 

 in in a day or a year, but we hope that they will be steadily kept in view. 



In the development of these plans the personality of the director of 

 the garden is an important factor, as it evidently has been in their incep- 

 tion. The Gazette has rarely felt it proper to say anything personal, 

 but it is justified in saying now that Mr. Shaw made no mistake in 

 naming Dr. William Trelease as the first director of the Missouri Bo- 

 tanic Garden. The pre-eminently needed quality at this stage of the lns- 



sidedness 



best 



know that he fulfills this need. Not only has his training and ex- 

 perience been varied, but his investigations have been in several diverse 

 fields, in each of which his contributions have been of incontestable 

 value. The fact that he has thus been able to do valuable work in sev- 

 eral lines, that he is a trained investigator, and that he is an experienced 

 teacher, give him opportunity for a broad grasp of the problem 

 of the best development of the garden that would be impossible 

 for a narrower specialist. We sincerely hope that he will always have 

 the earnest support of the trustees and the cordial co-operation of all bo- 

 tanists in every effort for the development of what, if rightly adminis- 

 tered, must become a splendid center of botanical research. 



OPEN LETTERS. 



Eragrostis and Molinia. 



Septembe 



xteierring to tne letter 01 irxi. j.«™ «. ~ - - t, r ,• Pnr 



zette, I would say that the discovery of the grasses named (Me jica 1 r- 

 teri and Eragrostis pilifera) within his state, is an intery-stine f^t extenO- 

 ing the northern range of these species, but I can not. «^™£ nd h £" 

 this Eragrostis could have suggested a relationship with Molinia. I fail 



