Maech 17, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



413 



thoroughness the Dutch set about the study 

 of their colonial resources. The botanic garden 

 at Buitenzorg with its many accessory insti- 

 tutions remains easily the leading one in the 

 world, and the monumental work of Treub, 

 whose recent death is a great loss, as an or- 

 ganizer and scientist can not be overestimated. 

 His agricultural department of the Dutch 

 East Indies was probably more efficient than 

 any similar institution in the entire world. 



The new development of the black continent 

 has led to increased activity in the investiga- 

 tion of its scientific problems. Many new 

 institutions of research have been founded, 

 both in British, German, French, Belgian and 

 Portuguese colonies in tropical Africa. 



While the eastern tropics and their re- 

 sources are comparatively well tnown, we have 

 a very scant knowledge of the tropics of the 

 western hemisphere. 



Besides the few scientific institutions in the 

 British and Dutch West Indies, and in Brazil, 

 there are no botanical gardens, no agricul- 

 tural experiment stations, no meteorological 

 observatories, no medical research institutes, 

 no zoological laboratories in the American 

 tropics. In all the large territory of Central 

 America, in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador 

 and Peru there is absolutely nothing being 

 done in scientific research of the tropics. 



The United States of America have in re- 

 cent years acquired valuable tropical depend- 

 encies, and in Porto Eico, Hawaii and the 

 Philippines, notably in the last, scientific in- 

 vestigation is receiving due attention, in ac- 

 cordance with the requirements for scientific 

 knowledge characteristic of present-day Amer- 

 ica. 



The people of this country are, however, 

 interested also in other parts of the American 

 tropics, even if these are not political de- 

 pendencies of the United States. It is suffi- 

 cient to recall the fact that oyer a billion dol- 

 lars of American money are invested in the 

 tropics, in order to realize this. The Ameri- 

 can people investing in the tropical industries 

 of the equatorial regions of this hemisphere 

 have not had the assistance of science in ma- 

 king their investments secure and profitable. 

 How different are conditions in Great Britain ! 



America has been so preoccupied with the 

 development of its own enormous resources 

 that the tropical parts of this hemisphere have 

 been left to work out their own destiny un- 

 aided. 



The Monroe Doctrine as an expression of 

 the homogeneity of all interests affecting 

 America should cease to be a political theory 

 only, and should be brought down to com- 

 mercial, industrial, literary and scientific reci- 

 procity between the American countries. 

 Trade relations are becoming more intimate. 

 It is time that scientific relations become 

 more frequent. 



Tropical America is to-day more European 

 than American. For centuries maritime 

 Europe has been trading with the American 

 tropics, supplying immense amounts of capital 

 for the development of their vast resources, and 

 converting these countries into commercial, 

 if not political, dependencies. 



To this day Europe has done more for the 

 scientific exploration of tropical America than 

 American scientists. There is, fortunately, 

 no Monroe Doctrine as regards American sci- 

 ence. But thoughtful Americans can not but 

 lament their country's neglect of the great, 

 opportunities for contributing to the progress 

 of civilization in tropical America. 



Every country in the world needs the prod- 

 ucts of the tropics. Those that have not trop- 

 ical dependencies of their own must acquire 

 such products from other countries. The re- 

 quirements of a prosperous nation of 90,000,- 

 000 of consumers have created a great market 

 for tropical products in the United States. 

 Humanity in general derives to-day many 

 products from tropical countries, which have 

 become articles of daily need where a century 

 ago they were luxuries. 



Tropical America, with its vast areas of 

 fertile land, its abundant rainfall and perfect 

 climate, and its proximity to the world's larg- 

 est market, is capable of supplying all the 

 products of the tropics in enormous quanti- 

 ties. 



To be able to take advantage of these con- 

 ditions, it is of the greatest practical impor- 

 tance that we arrive at a better and proper 

 understanding of tropical countries. 



