December 28, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



629 



"Origin of Cultivated Plants." These are 

 only food plants, and tlie treatment does 

 not pretend to be complete. In the Stand- 

 ard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, the entries 

 of plants described in cultivation exceeds 

 20,000, although not nearly all these spe- 

 cies are domesticated. About 40,000 Latin 

 names are accounted for. This treatment 

 does not cover the cultivated plants of the 

 world, but those of the United States and 

 Canada and those readily drawn from the 

 European trade, with the most prominent 

 species in the island dependencies of the 

 United States. Probably never have spe- 

 cies new to cultivation been introduced so 

 rapidly as within very recent years. For 

 example, in the treatment of Primula in 

 the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture 

 in 1901, I described twenty-seven species; 

 in the Standard Cj'clopedia in 1916, I de- 

 scribed 200. All this phalanx comprises in 

 itself a large section of the vegetable king- 

 dom, perhaps as much as nearly one sixth 

 of the Spermatophyta, and it demands 

 the attention of the best phytographic and 

 taxonomie investigation. 



The long-repeated statements of origins 

 of cultivated plants are challenged when- 

 ever the sj'stematology is seriously attacked, 

 or when the subject is examined under bo- 

 tanical investigations. The case of maize 

 is a striking example; although always 

 explained on the basis of American origin, 

 the reported pre-Columbian references in 

 China need further investigation. The 

 same kind of puzzle associates with many 

 plants, wild as well as domesticated, that 

 are prominent subjects in early travels 

 and writings. Thus Fernald concludes 

 that the wine-berries of the Norsemen were 

 not grapes found on the shores of the pres- 

 ent New England, as we have always as- 

 sumed, and that they were probably moun- 

 tain cranberries found in Labrador or the 



St. Lawrence region. The result of con- 

 temporaneous studies is that, from both the 

 historical and biological sides, the founda- 

 tions are being shocked. Most of my life I 

 have given special attention to the botany of 

 the domesticated flora, yet I should not now 

 care to hazard a pronouncement from this 

 platform on the specific natural-history 

 origin of any one of the more impoi*tant 

 widespread species of cultivated plants. 



THE SYSTEMATIST IS A BIOLOGIST 



Whether he works with feral or domestic 

 floras, the systematist of whom I speak is a 

 real investigator. He studies the living 

 material so far as he is able, perhaps grow- 

 ing it for this purpose ; tries to understand 

 the influence of environment, the role of 

 hybridization and mutation, and preserves 

 his records in the form of ample herbarium 

 sheets. He relates his work to morphology, 

 and desires to arrange it as an expression 

 of lines of development. He may study 

 his material for years before he ventures 

 to describe. It follows that the systema- 

 tist necessarily, in these days, becomes a 

 specialist; and it further follows that we 

 should encourage, in addition to the few 

 very large and comprehensive establish- 

 ments, the making of many herbaria and 

 growing collections strong in special lines. 



L. H. Bailey 



PATENT REFORM PROSPECTS 



The Patent Office Society is permitted to 

 announce that a composite committee has been 

 created, upon request, by the National Ee- 

 search Council, to make a preliminary study 

 of the problems of the U. S. Patent Office and 

 its service to science and the useful arts. This 

 committee, which is expected to meet in "Wash- 

 ington shortly after the middle of December, 

 is understood to comprise, at the outset, the 

 following : Leo H. Baekeland, Wm. F. Durand, 

 Thos. Ewing, Frederick P. Fish, Eobert A. 



