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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1174 



trifcutions that such an establishment can 

 make, not all of which are appreciated as 

 they should be. There is no better audi- 

 ence for this purpose than the friends and 

 supporters of the Brooklyn Botanic Gar- 

 den, wliich has achieved more in certain 

 directions than any other garden in the 

 country. I wish you to realize, not only 

 that your support is justified, but also that 

 perhaps you have builded better than you 

 knew. I shall speak of these three con- 

 tributions in what I conceive to be the 

 inverse order of their importance, in the 

 sense that the superficial, however desir- 

 able, is less important than the funda- 

 mental. 



1. The first is the social contribution. 

 "Social" is a very inclusive word. Any- 

 thing that contributes to the welfare of a 

 community, in any way, is a social con- 

 tribution. In this sense, the results of edu- 

 cation and of religion are also social. I 

 am using the word in no such general 

 sense, however, but simply to include the 

 betterment of city conditions for living. 



A botanic garden is a social contribution 

 because it is one answer to the problem 

 of congestion. It is not sufficient to have 

 open spaces, even when those spaces are 

 beautified as parks. There can not be too 

 many of these, but something more is 

 needed. I wonder if you all appreciate 

 what the touch of nature means. It is 

 something more than open space for 

 breathing. It is a kind of elixir that helps 

 men to be mew. The garden is a museum 

 of nature, not merely an area left to na- 

 ture. In it there are assembled the repre- 

 sentatives of many regions, so that it gives 

 a world contact. It is a great service to 

 give any community the opportunity of 

 such a contact. 



The contact with nature presently de- 

 velops the contact of interest, and interests 

 outside the routine of living, when these 



interests are worth ■while, are both curative 

 and stimulating. Then when interest is 

 awakened, and plants are examined as in- 

 dividuals, and not merely as a general 

 population, the wonders of plant life begin 

 to appear. I wonder how many know why 

 leaves are green and flowers colored; why 

 some plants are trees and others herbs; 

 why some trail and climb, and others stand 

 erect. All of this vegetation is the natural 

 covering of the earth, which cities have 

 eliminated. It is the covering that makes 

 your lives and all life possible. I should 

 say, therefore, that the mere presence of a 

 botanic garden in a city is like having the 

 spirit of nature as a guest, and all who 

 become acquainted with this spirit are the 

 better for it. 



There is nothing more artificial than city 

 life, and therefore nothing more abnormal. 

 Some are able now and then to renew their 

 contact with the natural and normal, but 

 most are not. A botanic garden brings to 

 the many a touch of what only the few can 

 secure for themselves. You have doubtless 

 developed some very definite and effective 

 ways of expressing the social contribution 

 of this garden to the life and welfare of 

 this community. But to me, speaking in 

 general terms, the conspicuous social con- 

 tribution is to provide the opportunity, and 

 see to it that al the people take advantage 

 of it. 



2. The second is the educational con- 

 tribution. It is this contribution to the 

 community that you have developed with 

 remarkable success. Nature is a great 

 teacher when she really comes in contact 

 with the pupil. The notion is too preva- 

 lent that knowledge comes from books ; that 

 one can read about nature and acquire 

 knowledge of nature. One might just as 

 well try to acquire knowledge of business 

 by reading about business. Knowledge 

 comes from experience, from contact. We 



