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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1049 



seek such instruction in Europe, and espe- 

 cially in Germany. The last decade of the 

 nineteenth century probably witnessed the 

 largest emigration of American botanical 

 students to Germany. These men brought 

 back German methods and German ideas, 

 and undoubtedly these influences were on 

 the whole of immense service to the develop- 

 ment of science in America. However, it 

 has sometimes happened that these foreign 

 fashions, perhaps, have been followed a 

 little too slavishly and the work of some of 

 our foreign students might be criticized as 

 somewhat lacking in originality. 



In point of equipment and opportunity 

 for research it may be asserted safely that 

 at the present time, America can hold its 

 own with any European country. It may 

 be fairly asked, therefore, whether the 

 accomplishment has been commensurate 

 with the opportunities afforded. 



There is no doubt that the quality as well 

 as the quantity of work done in this country 

 in the period in question has risen very 

 much; and one could select a very con- 

 siderable part of the work which will bear 

 comparison with the best of its kind done 

 abroad. But it must be admitted that the 

 great bulk of the work is of mediocre char- 

 acter. It is perhaps asking too much to 

 expect that all, or even a large part, of 

 work of any kind should rise above the 

 mediocre, and it must be confessed that 

 much of the work published in the United 

 States can not be considered to be of first 

 rate quality. However, it is probable that 

 the average here might be raised without 

 undue exertion. 



It seems to me that perhaps the prin- 

 cipal cause of this mediocrity is the ten- 

 dency to follow whatever new fad may come 

 into fashion, instead of seeking for prob- 

 lems of one's own. We are, as a people, I 

 think, more prone to adopt new fashions 

 than are the more conservative inhabitants 



of the Old World. At any rate the past 

 twenty or thirty years have seen the rise 

 and decline of a good many botanical 

 fashions, each one of which was all-impor- 

 tant in its day. 



Instead of a man's asking himself, 

 "What am I especially interested in and 

 what can I do most advantageously," the 

 student usually through the advice of his 

 instructor, is put to work on the latest 

 thing that has come from Germany or 

 France, sometimes before he has really 

 mastered the fundamentals of the science. 

 The results of such misdirected energy are 

 naturally often unfortunate. 



Another thing which may partly account 

 for the rarity of work of the highest grade 

 is the undue emphasis laid on the economic 

 phases of the science. We Americans are 

 preeminently a "practical" people and our 

 achievements in applied science are notori- 

 ous ; is it that we are incapable of recogniz- 

 ing the supreme importance of pure science 

 that accounts for our comparatively poor 

 showing in the way of contributions to the 

 fundamentals of science, botanical or 

 otherwise ? 



It is not, however, with the past history 

 of our science that I wish to deal, but with 

 its present tendencies and the prospects for 

 its future development. One who has done 

 his work and made his mistakes may be, 

 perhaps, permitted to criticize the present 

 and make some suggestions for the future. 



The equipment of our more important 

 universities, as well as the liberal provision 

 made by the government for scientific work, 

 in connection with special private endow- 

 ments for research work, offer ample oppor- 

 tunity to the man who would devote his 

 life to a scientific career. 



Unfortunately the very perfection of the 

 material equipment may cause us to attach 

 undue importance to the mere apparatus 

 of research, and to minimize the value of 



