Mat 22, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



735 



The economic cause is to be found in the 

 tremendous expansion of technological 

 enterprises which is characteristic of this 

 industrial age. Developments in the field 

 of agriculture have created a demand for 

 men who have been trained to deal with 

 plants in their practical aspects. Trade 

 and industry have recognized the value of 

 the aid which is to be had from science, 

 and have fostered schools for education 

 along technical lines. In response to the 

 demands of technology, many scientific 

 workers have directed their attentions to 

 practical problems, and one result of their 

 combined labors is seen in the change of 

 point of view with respect to botany, and 

 the wider recognition of its utilitarian 

 phases. 



The existence of what I have called the 

 social cause, as well as the part which it has 

 played in reshaping the conception of the 

 proper sphere of botany, may not be read- 

 ily granted, but its absolute denial would 

 certainly impugn the motives of many of 

 the most devoted and conscientious work- 

 ers in this field of science. This cause had 

 its origin in the fuller realization and 

 clearer perception of the social obligations 

 of botanists. By social obligation is not 

 meant the friendly association with fellow- 

 workers, or the attendance on dinners, and 

 dances, or afternoon receptions, but the 

 obligation of the botanist, as a botanist, to 

 society as a whole. 



So long as botanists were economically 

 independent, or so long as they found it 

 necessary to rely upon some regular pro- 

 fession for a livelihood and devoted only 

 their leisure hours to the acquiring of 

 knowledge regarding plants, they could 

 justly be held accountable only to them- 

 selves for the nature and direction of their 

 studies. But as economic development ad- 

 vanced, and division of labor became more 

 pronounced, many people of leisure and 



culture found it necessary to devote their 

 attention almost exclusively to their busi- 

 ness affairs, and the number of professional 

 botanists of independent means became 

 absurdly small in comparison with the 

 number of those who received compensation 

 for their services. For society, recognizing 

 that education along broad and liberal lines 

 was of paramount importance in the up- 

 building and perpetuation of our social in- 

 stitutions, has endowed professorial chairs, 

 built commodious structures and supplied 

 the means for securing the extensive equip- 

 ment necessary for the prosecution of re- 

 search and the giving of instruction as well 

 as for the support of the teachers and in- 

 vestigators. Thus the economic status of 

 the botanist changed and brought about a 

 corresponding modification in his social 

 obligations, which in turn led to a broader 

 appreciation of the significance of service. 

 Whoever accepts support from another, be 

 that other an individual or society as a 

 whole, does so either upon the basis of 

 charity or upon the condition of giving an 

 equitable return in service rendered. 

 There is no one worthy of the name of bot- 

 anist who does not scorn the former, and 

 perhaps none who is not satisfied that he is 

 meeting the latter condition. Biit who is 

 to be the arbiter as to the equitableness or 

 character of the service rendered? The 

 botanist ? Yes, if he is deeply imbued with 

 a right sense of his obligation to society, 

 but if not, if he is one of those who mis- 

 take knowledge for an end itself instead 

 of a means to the broadening and energiz- 

 ing of human existence, society will sooner 

 or later relegate him to the place now occu- 

 pied by the astrologer and the alchemist. 

 Society then has the right to demand, and 

 it is thfe obligation of the botanist to render 

 service that has a distinct and plainly dis- 

 cernible economic or social value. This 

 does not mean that botanists should con- 



