THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 11 



that ' measure of self-direction ' ascribed by him to every living organism 

 (' Holism,' p. 98). 



The discussion of the problem of size and form in plants, which has 

 occupied our attention thus far this evening, raises questions of profound 

 significance in the sphere of pure botany. There is, however, another 

 interest inherent in the study of plants beyond that of pure science. I 

 mean botany as applied to the needs of man. To-day this touches 

 human life more closely than ever before. Every meal we eat, many of 

 the clothes we wear, timber, rubber, a whole volume in itself ; the drugs, 

 narcotics, dyes and scents, and most of that vast tale of accessories that 

 ameliorate life, depend for their supply, quality and often for their existence 

 upon the skilled work of the botanical expert. He is trained in our 

 schools and universities. His experience there is perfected by work on 

 farms and plantations, in forests and in factories, often by adventurous 

 life abroad. It would be superfluous for me to enter into detail on such 

 matters, for happily the director of Kew presides over the botanical 

 section, and he can speak with the fullest knowledge on the application of 

 botanical science to modern life. 



Government Departments are now linked more closely than ever with 

 universities and technical colleges by the golden chain of grants. The 

 botanical institutes that have sprung from this joint source are mostly 

 focussed at such centres as Kew and South Kensington, Cambridge and 

 Oxford, Harpenden and Merton, Long Ashton and Corstorphine, Plymouth 

 and Millport, with important outliers such as Dehra Dun in India, the 

 Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad, and the Eesearch 

 Station at Amani, East Africa ; while similar stations are to be found in 

 Canada, at the Cape, in Australia and New Zealand. Their activities are 

 as diverse as their position. Agriculture, forestry, plant-breeding and 

 distribution, seed-testing, mycology and plant pathology — these are but 

 a few of the headings under which Applied Botany is now pursued ; and 

 a duly qualified staff is required for each. Kew itself, thanks to the 

 foresight of the Empire Marketing Board, is developing ever more and 

 more as a co-ordinating centre for the whole Empire. Highly specialised 

 study such as this has sprung into existence in the last half-century. As 

 regards Britain, its origin may be traccil to the biological laboratory of 

 the old Normal School of Science at South Kensington, where biological 

 research was revived under Huxley and Thiselton-Dyer. 



The first botanist there trained in pure science who turned the newly 



