Apbil 23j 1915] 



SCIENCE 



599 



the other hand, is the mercurial, restive type, 

 who hasn't even a word in his vocabulary with 

 which to translate gemuetlichheit, and who 

 labors medically in a strenuously competitive 

 atmosphere. The essence of the matter 

 is simply this, that up to now the German 

 clinical professor has, 'as a rule, needed little 

 or no protection against himself, whereas the 

 American clinical professor has so frequently 

 demonstrated the need of such protection as 

 to call forth that forcible truth from Dr. E. P. 

 Lyon, who characterized clinical professorial 

 selfishness by the phrase " lying full length in 

 the trough as he eats." If a sufficiently large 

 number of American private practitioners had 

 demonstrated their capacity to combine teach- 

 ing and practise as the Germans combine them, 

 there would probably be no call for the full- 

 time clinical professor. They have failed to 

 demonstrate this, and they can not explain 

 that failure on the basis of German example. 



Indeed, this failure on the part of the clin- 

 ical teachers to teach as intensively as do the 

 instructors in the fundamental branches is 

 alone responsible for the agitation for the full- 

 time clinical instructor. Whether they accept 

 it or not, the burden of proof lies upon those 

 who argue against a plan that attempts to do 

 for clinical teaching exactly what has been 

 recognized as essential in practically every 

 other branch of education. For many of us it 

 is difficult to see how the introduction of full- 

 time clinical instruction can possibly fail to 

 accomplish most of those things which we 

 hope to see result from it, for all of us who are 

 interested in seeing the reform meet with 

 warm, broad support, there is much chagrin 

 and disappointment in contemplating the half- 

 hearted support and whole-hearted opposition 

 accorded it. This chagrin and disappointment 

 may be considerably tempered, however, if we 

 bear in mind the truism spoken by President 

 Lowell in his address before the New England 

 Association of Colleges, last year. Said Mr. 

 Lowell : 



Education ia the last of all things to follow the 

 stream of human thought and progress. It is still 

 mainly in the deductive stage. 



If Mr. Lowell be correct in his statement, 

 we may seek solace in the thought that we have 



at least an explanation for the fact that so 

 many well-meaning clinical men experience 

 difficulty in accepting an inductive syllogism 

 the conclusion of which is " The teaching of 

 clinical subjects should be under the guidance 

 of exclusive clinical teachers." 



Major G. Seelig 

 St. Louis Univeesitt School of Medicine 



CHASLES E. BESSEY 



The death of Professor Bessey removes a 

 conspicuous figure from among the group of 

 older American botanists. No botanist was 

 better known personally among his colleagues, 

 for he was eminently social, and enjoyed the 

 various scientific meetings that brought his 

 friends together. It is certain that no mem- 

 ber of the botanical fraternity will be more 

 missed at these meetings than Professor Bessey, 

 for he was always the center and life of any 

 group of which he happened to be a member. 



The usual biographical data dealing with 

 birth, training and official positions may be 

 obtained from " American Men of Science," 

 and need not be repeated here. The vsriter 

 wishes to speak of him as an old acquaintance, 

 and of his place in the history of American 

 botany. 



Professor Bessey first became known to 

 botanists in general in connection with his 

 position in the Iowa Agricultural College at 

 Ames, and during his fourteen years (1870-84) 

 of service there, his reputation as a botanist 

 became established. In 1884 he began his long 

 period of service at the University of TSTebraska, 

 where for thirty-one years (1884—1915) he was 

 not only a commanding figure in his subject, 

 but also in the university and in the state. 



In the history of American botany. Pro- 

 fessor Bessey stands for the introduction of 

 a new epoch. Before 1880 the study of botany 

 was practically bounded by the taxonomy of 

 the higher plants, with such gross morphology 

 as enabled the student to use a manual. In 

 any event, the collecting and naming of plants 

 was the chief botanical pursuit. Eor nearly 

 thirty years before 1880, morphology as we 

 understand it now had been developing in 

 Germany, under the original stimulus given 



