February 1, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



113 



vivisection propagandiun ; how hopeless it 

 would be with science unorganized, or or- 

 ganized only in small scattered groups. 

 In matters touching the place of botany in 

 education, the content of the course of 

 stud}% the conservation and scientific utili- 

 zation of plant resources by the nation, ap- 

 propriations for research, provision for 

 publication, as mentioned above, the in- 

 fluencing of public opinion in many ways, 

 and on numerous other occasions requiring 

 effective group action, the advantage of 

 one strong, dignified, aggressive organiza- 

 tion, known and respected by the general 

 public should be at once recognized. 



It is from such considerations as these 

 that I believe it is highly desirable that 

 there should be such an organization as the 

 American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, and especially that botan- 

 ists should contribute as much strength as 

 possible to the association by supporting a 

 botanical section. It is an immense advan- 

 tage, and might conceivably become a mat- 

 ter of critical moment, to have a strong na- 

 tional federation of all the scientific activi- 

 ties of the nation. 



It is for similar reasons that I believe a 

 segregation of botanists into several rela- 

 tively small organizations, in certain ways, 

 would be disastrous to the best interests of 

 botanical science. "In union there is 

 strength" is as true for science as for poli- 

 tics. The ideal condition would seem to be 

 one large organization, representing botan- 

 ical science as a whole, but comprising as 

 many sections as size and coherence of va- 

 rious special interests may justify. It 

 would be a real misfortune to undo the 

 good accomplished in 1906 by the federa- 

 tion of several smaller organizations into 

 the Botanical Society of America. The Bo- 

 tanical Society of America needs every 

 botanist as truly as does every botanist 

 need the society. 



7. Botanical Education. — There are 

 weighty reasons why the study of botany 

 should form a part of the schooling of 

 every one seeking a liberal education, un- 

 less we are prepared to abandon the age- 

 old principle that intellectual culture, per 

 se, has intrinsic value as well as does voca- 

 tional proficiency. A general course, with- 

 out laboratory work, consisting largely of 

 illustrated lectures and assigned readings, 

 touching on the history of the science, its 

 philosophical aspects, its relations to knowl- 

 edge as a whole, and to problems of every- 

 day life, should be more generally intro- 

 duced into our colleges. Such a course 

 would not only result in a more wide- 

 spread intelligence about plants and the 

 science of plants, but would be certain to 

 increase the number of those electing bot- 

 any as a life work. It would be valuable 

 for those intending to practise law, medi- 

 cine, theology or journalism. If democ- 

 racy is to survive, saj-s a recent writer, not 

 only must culture be shot through with 

 practical efiScieney, but practical efiSciency 

 with, culture. The first course in botany 

 should always be planned on the supposi- 

 tion that it is not only the first course, but 

 may also be the last. 



Contrary to a prevalent notion, statistics 

 show that botany as a high-school subject 

 has rapidly lost ground during the past few 

 years. This is due largely to the absence 

 of any organized effort to adapt the science 

 in accordance with the present-day tend- 

 ency to place every subject on an indus- 

 trial basis. The Report of the Commis- 

 sioner of Education for 1916 shows that, 

 between 1910 and 1915, the enrollment in 

 botany in the high schools of the United 

 States decreased 44 per cent., only 7.9 per 

 cent, of the total high-school enrollment 

 taking botany. The enrollment in agricul- 

 ture has increased from 4.55 per cent, to 

 6.92 per cent., and in domestic science from 



