Jdne 6, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



895 



would be attained without such— shall we 

 call it partisan?— interest. 



A. Crum Brown. 



THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINCTON. 

 Botanical development at the national 

 capital has been so rapid within the last 

 few years that few outside of Washington 

 comprehend that it has become the lead- 

 ing botanical center of America and is 

 rapidly taking position as one of the lead- 

 ing botanical centers of the world. Prob- 

 ably no city in the world can boast of a 

 larger number of well-trained professional 

 men devoting their entire time to the study 

 of botany in some one of its various 

 branches. The aggregation of so large a 

 number of professional botanists has finally 

 led to the formation of a general botanical 

 society which is of more than passing inter- 

 est, as there is hardly a university of any 

 note in the country that is not represented 

 by graduates among its members. 



The Biological Society of Washington 

 was the first society organized in Washing- 

 ton which gave any attention to botanical 

 matters. This society was too formal and 

 did not allow of sufficient discussion to 

 suit some of the botanists, and as a result 

 in 1893 the 'Botanical Seminar' was organ- 

 ized, the original membership including 

 Messrs. F. V. Coville, D. G. Fairchild, B. 

 T. Galloway, Theo. Holm, E. F. Smith and 

 M. B. Waite. The main aim of the Semi- 

 nar was to discuss general problems of 

 plant physiology and pathology and to pro- 

 mote a friendly spirit of criticism. In the 

 early days of the Seminar no member pub- 

 lished a paper until it had been read or 

 summarized before the Society and had run 

 the gauntlet of criticism which, the writer 

 can testify, was frequently so severe as to be 

 perilous to the peace of mind of the mem- 

 ber under criticism. In no other society 

 which the writer has ever attended was 

 criticism so freely indulged in, or, it may 



be remarked, so pleasantly received. As" 

 it is axiomatic that no two minds ever 

 think exactly alike, so it came to be an un- 

 derstood thing that no paper would suit 

 everyone and many a lively discussion and 

 tilt of warm words resulted. 



The organization of the Seminar was 

 somewhat novel, being mainly remarkable 

 for its lack of organization. The Semi- 

 nar had no o0icei*s and no constitution and 

 its membership, though very exclusive, 

 existed only as tradition or in memory. 

 The meetings were held at the residences of 

 membera, the host of the preceding meeting 

 acting as chairman. The membership was 

 limited to twenty-five and unanimous con- 

 sent of all members was required for elec- 

 tion to membership. 



In the nine years of its existence the 

 Seminar filled an important place in Wash- 

 ington's botanical development, both sci- 

 entifically and socially.' A light lunch was 

 served at each meeting and these light 

 lunches, which sometimes became heavy, 

 served as they were at 11 p.m., became 

 famous among the members. It may be 

 said that the fire of scientific enthusiasm 

 requires no midnight lunch to feed upon, 

 but it is certain that no matter how keenly 

 the scientific fire burns a lunch during the 

 evening adds to the flow of ideas and is 

 conducive to ' that satisfied feeling ' which 

 makes all members regular attendants. 



Within a few years the number of bot- 

 anists in Washington became too large to 

 be accommodated in the botanical seminar, 

 meeting as it did in private houses, and in 

 1898 the Washington Botanical Club was 

 organized particularly to consider the prob- 

 lems of systematic botany and furnish a 

 means of communication between botanists 

 interested in systematic and ecological stud- 

 ies. The organization of this club was 

 largely brought about through the activity 

 of Mr. C. L. Pollard and the late Gilbert 

 H. Hicks. The general plan of this organ- 



