JUN 30 1917 % 



o U 1 il JN L/ -cX^,., M..»:^ 



Feidat, June 29, 1917 



THE SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND 



SCIENTIFIC VALUE OF 



BOTANIC GARDENSi 



It is a noteworthy fact that the United 

 States is beginning to appreciate botanic 

 gardens. This appreciation may be rela- 

 tively superficial as yet, but the superficial 

 is usually the preliminary step that leads- 

 to the fundamental. The desirability of 

 botanic gardens was not obvious when 

 large areas in a state of nature were avail- 

 able to almost every one; but when we 

 developed congested populations in cities 

 and made artificial most of our open areas, 

 the thought of botanic gardens began to 

 take form. 



Those of you who have traveled in 

 Europe must have been impressed by the 

 multiplicity of such gardens. They began 

 there in the form of monastic gardens, in 

 which the so-called "simples," used in 

 primitive medicine, were cultivated. Then 

 they came out into the open as city gar- 

 dens, chiefly for the enjojonent of the 

 people and to beautify the city. Finally, 

 they became also scientific, and gradually 

 led to such great establishments as the 

 botanic gardens at Rome, Geneva, and 

 Paris, the great modern gardens on the 

 outskirts of Berlin and Munich, and that 

 greatest of all garden establishments, the 

 Kew Gardens of London. These are but 

 conspicuous illustrations of what almost 

 every European city had developed before 

 we began to think of garden establish- 

 ments. 

 I wish to apeak of three conspicuous con- 



Twac; i„..„^ J f u,- »■ J V , , . ^ , , - 1 Address delivered at the dedication of the lab- 



MSS. Intended for publication and boots, etc., intended for 



review should be sent to Professor J. McKeenCattell, Garrison- oratory building and plant houses of the Brooklyn 



on-Hudson, N. Y Botanic Garden, April 19, 1917. 



CONTENTS 

 The BrooTclyn Botanic Garden: — 



The Social, Educational and Scientific Value 

 of Botanic Gardens: Peofessor John Merle 

 Coulter 643 



Ideals and Opportunities for a Botanic Gar- 

 den : Dr. 0. Stuaet Gager 648 



The Scientific WorTc of the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries : Dr. H. M. Smith 653 



Scientific Events: — 



Concerning the Manufacture of Phthalic 

 Acid and Phthalic Anhydride ; The Crocker 

 Land Expedition; Applied Psychology at 

 the Carnegie Institute of Technology 654 



Scientific Notes and News 656 



University and Educational News 659 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 

 Heritage and Haiitus: Dr. Henry Fair- 

 fieu) Osborn. Scientific Meetings in War 

 Times : Colin G. Fink 660 



The Proceedings of the National Academy of 

 Sciences: Professok Edwin Bidwell Wil- 

 son 661 



The Decimal Point : Professor Louis C. Kar- 

 pinski 663 



The Shortage of Platinum 665 



Special Articles: — r 



Is the House of Tcuhu the Minoan Laiy- 

 rinth? Professor Harold Sellers Colton. 667 



