Januaky 1, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



IS- 



must stand on a pinnacle and say, 'I am a 

 scientist; this is enough; walk up and lay 

 at my feet your tributes in order that you 

 may receive my beneficent smiles.' I am 

 not overdrawing this picture, for this very 

 day there are institutions founded and con- 

 ducted for the advancement of science 

 where this attitude is maintained. The re- 

 sult is that men with the love of their work 

 at heart who are forced to work under these 

 conditions find themselves handicapped on 

 every side by a sort of immaculateness, 

 perhaps beautiful in theory, but of no prac- 

 tical value in the every-day affairs of life. 

 Under this system work is carried to a cer- 

 tain point, and then, when a little efi'ort 

 would make it complete, the dignity — and 

 I use this word with a question mark— of 

 science looms up, and the needed support 

 must give way to that. Fortunately, bot- 

 any has not suffered so much from this atti- 

 tude as some of the kindred sciences, but 

 her cause has been delayed by it in certain 

 cases and is being delayed even to-day. 



I repeat, therefore, that the twentieth 

 century shall see this spirit disappear, and 

 in its place shall come one which is fully 

 progressive, recognizing that to be a scien- 

 tist is to be a man of affairs, a man gifted 

 with that most uncommon of all things — 

 common sense. It will be recognized that 

 ' true science is an invention, the invention 

 of a tool, which will enable man to become 

 more vital, more effective, more adequate 

 in the world in which he finds himself.' 

 This is especially true of botanical science, 

 which in the future must necessarily spread 

 into many walks of life. 



It is evident from what has been said 

 that botanists themselves will have much to 

 do with shaping the future attitude of the 

 state toward the work in question. Ex- 

 pediency in all eases will govern the action 

 of the state, and the fact that the botany of 

 the future will more and more become 

 closely identified with utilitarian projects 



will make the state dependent upon it. 

 The rapid changes taking place in popula- 

 tion, the filling up of sparsely settled re- 

 gions, the shifting of general commercial 

 centers, and the unification of conunerce in 

 all its branches will bring more and more 

 imperative demands for plants and their 

 products. With these demands will come 

 the necessity for knowing more of such 

 plants, how to use them to the best advan- 

 tage, and how to increase the possibilities 

 of production so as to meet the demands of 

 the times. These great questions will neces- 

 sarily force themselves upon the attention 

 of the state through the demands of the 

 people, and the state will on its part re- 

 ciuire of those charged with this important 

 work investigations which must necessarily 

 be far-reaching in their importance. 



The shaping of these lines of work will, 

 as already pointed out, depend in large 

 measure upon the wisdom and farsighted- 

 ness of botanists themselves. The fact will 

 not be lost sight of that to attain the highest 

 results the true spirit of scientific work 

 must be kept constantly in the foreground. 

 I maintain that this can always be done in 

 such a way as to command th,e respect and 

 confidence of the scientific world and at the 

 same time secure the practical aid which 

 must necessarily be at hand if anything is 

 to be accomplished at all. So much, there- 

 fore, for the probable future attitude of 

 the state toward botany and botanical sci- 

 ence. The high place which botany and 

 botanical work have taken in the affairs of 

 nations during the past few years makes it 

 evident that in the years to come this posi- 

 tion will not only be maintained, but ma- 

 terially advanced in numerous directions. 



And now let us turn to another some- 

 what general question which it seems to 

 me must necessarily receive careful con- 

 sideration in the near future, and that is 

 the effect of the present tendency to ex- 

 treme specialization in botany. No one, I 



