322 



NA TURE 



[February 6, 1908 



one cell-generation to another, thus establishing for 

 the nucleus beyond all question of doubt the rank of 

 morphological unity. The classic and palh-breaking 

 work, " Ueber Zellbildung und Zelltheilung," reached 

 the third edition in 1880, while its author was pro- 

 fessor at Jena. 



Since going to Bonn, Prof. Strasburger's more im- 

 portant contributions, dealing chiefly with the division 

 ol the nucleus and of the cell, with the growth of the 

 cell-wall, the structure of the vascular bundle, and 

 with the process of fecundation, have appeared in five 

 or six volumes, each bearing the principal title 

 " Histologische Beitrage." The bulkiest of these 

 volumes (No. 3), and probably one of the most note- 

 worthy, is on the structure of the vascular bundle 

 (" Ueber Bau und die Verrichtungen der Leitungs- 

 bahnen in der Pflanzen "). Apart from several other 

 very important monographs. Prof. Strasburger has 

 prepared the best and one of the most elaborate 

 laboratory manuals and handbooks of microscopic 

 technique known to biological science. " Das botan- 

 ische Practicum " is now in its fourth edition. 

 " Das kleine botanische Practicum," an abridged 

 edition for the use of more elementary students, was 

 also prepared. A translation of this volume by Hill- 

 house is still one of the very best botanical handbooks 

 in the English language. With the aid of his form'^r 

 collaborators, the late Prof. A. F. W. Schimper, Prof. 

 Fritz Noll, now of the University of Halle, and Prof. 

 Heinrich Schenck, of the Technical University of 

 Darmstadt, the text-book of botany was prepared, 

 which has gone through several editions and has been 

 translated into several languages. 



In more recent vears the results of certain important 

 investigations carried on in the institute have been 

 published conjointly by Prof. Strasburger and his 

 students. The most important of these is the volume 

 known as the " Cytologische Studien," which marked 

 the beginning of the more modern phases of cytology. 

 The especial value of this collection of papers consists 

 (i) in the perfection of the best cytological methods 

 known at present for a number of widely differing 

 plants, (2) in the proof that no such structures as 

 centrofomes or centrospheres exist in higher plants, 

 and (j) in the complete establishment of true sexuality 

 in the ascomvcetes. Occasionally, Prof. Strasburger 

 carries his private work into fields somewhat removed 

 from the general subject of his life work, though such 

 studies have been comparatively few. In this connec- 

 tion may be mentioned the elaborate study with 

 dioecious plants, having for its object to determine, if 

 possible, the effect of environmental conditions upon 

 the control of sex. During the past few years the 

 chief work of the institute has centred about problems 

 relating to the physical basis of heredity, such as the 

 individualitv of the chromosomes, the transmission of 

 characters in hybrids, &:c. 



A glance at the vast amount of literature issued 

 from this most famous centre of cytological research 

 is sufficient to convince one who is not a special 

 student pf cvlology that the main object and life- 

 work of its director is to understand the meaning of 

 the cell by knowing in the most detailed manner its 

 structure at every step of its activity in all kinds of 

 plants, from the lowest to the highest, and that which 

 has been discovered is only a fair index of what is 

 still to be known. 



Probablv a summary of the day's programme at the 

 institute will not be without interest to the reader. 

 During the winter semester Prof. Strasburger lec- 

 tures upon the morphology of the plant groups below 

 the spermatophyta, four lectures being given per 

 week. Once a week, on Fridays, the public lecture 

 is given, which is open to all who wish to attend. 

 NO. 1997. VOL. 77] 



The subject of these public lectures varies from year 

 to year, but it usually pertains to some topic of general 

 interest concerning plants, and is treated from a 

 piiilosophical standpoint. In the summer semester 

 the lectures deal with the anatomy and physiology of 

 the higher plants. Before going to the lecture room, 

 the professor makes his daily rounds in the advanced 

 laboratories, visiting each investigator, making in- 

 quiries concerning the progress made during the past 

 twenty-four or forty-eight hours, and at the same time 

 olfcring suggestions and criticisms. A visit is fre- 

 quently made to the laboratory after the lecture or in 

 the afternoon, depending upon the interest in the 

 particular line of studv. 



Prof. Strasburger's wonderful grasp of the whole 

 field of morphology and physiology, as brought out 

 in frequent discussions in the laboratory, increases 

 daily one's admiration and quickens in one the con- 

 sciousness of being in the presence of a master mind. 

 W'hen the marvellous results of this centre of scientific 

 research are considered, and the relatively meagre 

 equipment and lack of convenience, the success can 

 only be attributed to the genius of the man who is 

 the centre of its activity and the source of its in- 

 spiration. D. M. Mother. 



EXAMINATION v. RESEARCH. 



A UNIVERSITY is as much a place for compromise 

 as a party caucus or a church. It has to pro- 

 vide for different needs and to satisfy conflicting in- 

 terests. It has to preserve its corporate balance against 

 the attacks of specialists and extremists who try to 

 drag it on to a side-track. .And it has to do all these 

 things with limited means and limited wisdom. From 

 time to time doubts may well arise as to how far it 

 succeeds in steering the best course. Oxford at pre- 

 sent is in the throes of such a discussion, .'\lways 

 critical, she is more critical of herself than of any- 

 thing less near and dear, and is now enjoying a per- 

 fect orgie of self-criticism. But such emotional de- 

 lights should not lead to oblivion of the fundamental 

 facts of academic life. 



Oxford has to find a working compromise between 

 four distinct functions which lead up to four distinct 

 ideals (or exaggerations) of a university. .She has to 

 educate, to teach, to examine, and to research, to say 

 nothing of governing herself, which is not, perhaps, 

 the supreme ideal, as our officials are apt to imagine. 



(i) Educationally, Oxford is a place where tliose who 

 can afford it, or are selected by private or public 

 charitv as fit recipients of scholarships, may obtain 

 an intellectual training which will fit them (more or 

 less imperfectly) for a number of professional pur- 

 suits, and are subjected to a moral discipline which 

 (again somewhat imperfectly) induces them to do less 

 harm to themselves and to create less disturbance in 

 the community than similarly situated youths are wont 

 to do in any other country. Thus Oxford is not an 

 ideal university. But it is as incapable of being the 

 university of Bohemia as of I'topia. Its educational 

 ideal conducts to the perfect gentleman, or, if it fails, 

 to the perfect snob. 



(2) As a teaching institution Oxford is expensive, 

 but (on the whole) efficient. It is expensive because 

 it sacrifices the teacher to the taught, and leads the 

 former to bestow upon the latter a great deal of in- 

 dividual attention, more, possibly, than is good for 

 him, more, certainly, than is necessary or than he 

 gets elsewhere. It is efficient because the college 

 spirit is strong, and the competition between the col- 

 leges is keen. Wherever this inducement fails, i.e. 

 wherever the university conducts the instruction or 

 the college takes no pride in it (e.g. in the case of 



