SCIENCE 



Friday, February 12, 1915 



CONTENTS 

 The American Association for the Advance- 

 ment cf Science: — 



The Economic Trend of Botany: Henky C. 

 COWLES 223 



Conserve the Collector: Joseph Gkinnell... 229 



The Scientiiic Trend in Secondari/ Scliools: 

 Dr. Elliot R. Dowxixg 232 



Fatronizing the South Anurican Hcpuhlics: 

 President J. C. Braxxer 236 



A Neic Field School of Geolojjjj for Harvard 

 Vniversitii : 237 



The Summer Meeting of the Geological So- 

 ciety of America 238 



Scientific Notes and Neu'S 238 



Uiiii-ers'ity and Ediicalional News 243 



Discitssion and Correspondence: — 



The Sate of Continental Denudation: Eu- 

 gene Wesley Shaw. Albinism in the Eng- 

 lish Sparrow: Professor Charles W. Hak- 

 GITT 244 



Scientific Bools : — 



Volterra's Lemons snr les Fonctions de 

 Lignes: Dr. G. C. Evans. Price's The 

 Essence of Astronomy: Professor Charles 

 Lane Poor. Ogden's Introduction to Gen- 

 eral Psychology : Professor Mary Wi-iiton 

 Calkin's 246 



Petroleum Developments in Foreign Countries. 249 



A Study of the Influence of Volcanic Dust 

 Veils on Climatic Variations: Dr. Hexrvk 

 Arotowski 252 



Special Articles: — 



On the Nature of Antagonism: Professor 

 W. J. V. Osterhout. Isolation of Bacillus 

 radicicola from the Soil: Dr. C. B. LiP>r.YN 

 AND L. W. Fowler 255 



The American Physical Society: Professor 

 A. D. Cole 259 



Societies and Academies: — 



The Botanical Society of Washingtou: Dr. 

 Perley Spauldixg 260 



MSS. intended for pubUoation and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to Professor J. MoKeen Cattell, Garrison- 

 On-Hudscn, N, Y. 



TEE ECONOMIC TSEND OF BOTANY^ 

 It can scarcely be successfully denied 

 that the most significant recent advances 

 in American botany have been along eco- 

 nomic lines. By many of our younger bot- 

 anists the dominance of the practical point 

 of view is taken for granted, but to some 

 of our older investigators and teachers the 

 changing attitude has brought something 

 of a shocli. And there are a few who are 

 not yet conscious of the great economic 

 tide which is engulfing us. For the sake 

 of this last group it will be well to consider 

 briefly a few historical facts. As yet 

 within the memory of the older living bot- 

 anists, American botany was scarcely more 

 than the taxonomy of the vascular plants. 

 In the eighties we began importing the 

 laboratory method from Europe, particu- 

 larly from Germanj^ It was the psycho- 

 logical moment, and naturalization took 

 place with surprising swiftness. At first, 

 the new movement foiind expression 

 mainly in the direction of morphology and 

 anatomy. By the early nineties, however, 

 a pronounced physiological trend found 

 large place, and in the late nineties ecolo- 

 gists began taking the laborator,y method 

 to the field. 



No attempt will be made to picture here 

 the rise of economic botany. It may be 

 pointed out, merely, that in our older pro- 

 grams it had very little place. A some- 

 what notable exception to this is afforded 

 by medical botany, which has long been 

 paid attention to by botanists. Indeed, 

 1 Address of the vice-president and chairman of 

 Section G, Botany, American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, Philadelphia, December, 

 ]9]4. 



