742 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. TOL. XXXIX. No. 1012 



ciple states that "the point of departure 

 of the progressive lines of one period of 

 time has not been from the terminal types 

 of the lines of preceding ages, but from 

 points farther back in the series." The 

 evidence is not wanting that the new and 

 progressive lines of botanical activity do 

 not originate directly from the most highly 

 specialized branches of the science, but 

 from the more unspecialized portion. 

 Thus arose ecology, pathology and genetics, 

 and so doubtless will the future see the 

 origin and development of other important 

 and vigorous branches of this science. 



It seems inevitable that from time to 

 time each branch of the science will pass 

 through eras of reconstruction unless, in- 

 deed, " it is assumed that the existing order 

 is a closed system within which men can 

 and should rationalize their conclusions, 

 but only within that system and ever under 

 its authority." But such a philosophy is 

 incompatible with the modem spirit of 

 progress, which is constantly utilizing accu- 

 mulated experience in the development of 

 new points of view and demanding a fre- 

 quent readjustment of the relations exist- 

 ing between allied lines of investigation. 

 The organization of the science, however, 

 implies much more than the harmonious 

 adjustment of relations between its various 

 branches, or agreement as to their proper 

 sphere of activity. It requires that botan- 

 ists realize that their duties are not fulfilled 

 by investigation alone, but that there is 

 also incumbent upon them the obligation 

 to give . serious consideration to what for 

 want of a better term may be called the 

 business affairs of the science. If the great 

 body of investigational work now in prog- 

 ress is to have continued growth and op- 

 portunity for unrestricted expansion, the 

 means must be forthcoming to provide for 

 its support, and to assure the protection 

 of its interests. Society must be looked to 



as the source of these means, and how freely 

 they are given and what restrictions or 

 limitations are imposed with respect to the 

 manner in which they are to be applied 

 will depend largely upon the degree to 

 which there is developed in the public at 

 large a sympathetic appreciation of the aim 

 and purpose of the science of botany. 



It is relatively easy to obtain financial 

 siipport for a scientific enterprise which 

 promises speedy returns in kind, but when 

 the energy expended in such an enterprise 

 is devoted solely to securing showy and 

 immediately practical results, then does 

 scientific education become a mere matter 

 of merchandise and science itself is de- 

 graded to the level of a trade. Public sup- 

 port to scientific enterprise must be secured 

 on some other basis than that of annual 

 dividends. Results of great and permanent 

 benefit to society may rightfully be ex- 

 pected, but they must be looked for in the 

 better understanding of the forces of na- 

 ture and their application to the promotion 

 of human welfare, in the development of 

 constructive habits of thought, which tends 

 to forecast the future by an analysis of the 

 facte of the present, and in the social 

 progress which will be favored by a clearer 

 perception of the relations existing between 

 plants and man. 



It is fruitless merely to affirm that more 

 attention should be given to the claims of 

 science, or to condemn the non-scientific 

 classes for estimating the importance of 

 scientific work according to ite money 

 value. I am persuaded that the much- 

 deplored tendency to look for immediate 

 and practical returns from scientific work 

 is due less to crass and sordid motives than 

 to a lack of right understanding of the 

 manifold ways in which science exerts a 

 beneficent influence upon the affairs of men. 

 This disability, however, is not beyond 

 remedy, and will be much less in evidence 



