October 20, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



553 



be in touch with the cultivator and natu- 

 rally approached by those requiring advice 

 and help in connection with disease, on the 

 same principle that a medical school is at- 

 tached to a hospital. An important part of 

 the training should be the study of the dis- 

 ease in the field and the conditions under 

 which it arises and nourishes. Prom the 

 point of view of mycology much useful 

 scientific work remains to be done on the 

 life history of the fungi which are or may 

 be the causes of disease. The study of pre- 

 ventive methods must obviously be carried 

 out in the field, and, while these are mainly 

 mechanical processes, they need careful 

 supervision ; the question of the subsequent 

 gathering and disposal of a crop must not 

 be overlooked. Experiments in the use of 

 dust instead of spray as a preventive of 

 fungous and insect attack have recently 

 been carried out in America. Other plant 

 diseases afford problems for the physiolo- 

 gist, who is a necessary part of the equip- 

 ment of the pathological institute. 



The anatomical and chemical study of 

 timbers might with advantage occupy a 

 greater number of workers. The matter is 

 of great economic importance. Questions 

 of identity are continually arising, and in 

 the present vague state of our knowledge it 

 is often difficult or impossible to give a sat- 

 isfactory answer. Samples of timber are 

 put on the market shipped, say, from West 

 Africa under some general name such as 

 mahogany; the importer does not supply 

 leaves and flowers for purpose of identifi- 

 cation, and in the present incomplete state 

 of our knowledge it is often impossible to 

 make more than a vague attempt at deter- 

 mination. Or a merchant brings a sample 

 which has been sent from X as Y, which it 

 obviously is not ; but what is it, whence does 

 it probably come, and what supply of it is 

 likely to be forthcoming? These are ques- 

 tions which it would be useful to be able to 

 answer with some greater approach to ac- 



curacy than at present. And it should be 

 the work of definitely trained persons. I 

 recall a sample of wood which some months 

 ago, coming from a government depart- 

 ment, went the round of the various insti- 

 tutions which were at all likely to be able to 

 supply the required information as to its 

 identity. It should have been matter of 

 common knowledge where to apply, with at 

 the same time reasonable certainty of ob- 

 taining the information required. 



It is possible also that a more systematic 

 study of minute structure would help to 

 solve questions of affinity. A chemical 

 study has proved of value in the discrimi- 

 nation of the species of Eucalyptus in Aus- 

 tralia. 



Apart from cooperation between the bot- 

 anist and the practical or commercial man, 

 there is need for coordination between 

 workers. I give the following incident from 

 real life. At the meeting of an advisory 

 committee the head of a certain institution 

 stated that he had set one of his staff to 

 work at a certain disease which was then 

 under discussion, but had learned shortly 

 after that a student at another institution 

 was engaged on the same piece of work. 

 A conference led to a useful division, one 

 of the workers to study the life history of 

 the organism in the laboratory, the other to 

 work at conditions of life, etc., in the field. 

 But it also transpired that another insti- 

 tution, as well as another independent 

 worker, was engaged on the same problem, 

 and while it was suggested that in one case 

 cooperation might be invited, it was deemed 

 inadvisable to approach the other. The 

 problem in this case was not one of such 

 special difficulty as to require so much at- 

 tention, and even if it had been some co- 

 ordination between the various working 

 units would have been helpful. Similar in- 

 stances will occur to you. The measure of 

 efficiency of our science should be the sum 

 of the efficiency of its workers. It should 



