54 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 547 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



#•# Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his 

 communication will be furnished free to any correspondent. 



The editor willbe glad to publish ayiy queries consonant with the character 

 of the journal. 



Bibliographic Work in Vegetable Physiology. 



I AM on the point of making a suggestion to students of botany, 

 chemistry, and more specially of physiology. I would be glad to 

 receive notes concerning the literature of any question in physi- 

 ology, in order to use them in my bibliographical work con- 

 cerning the physiology of plants. Under the head-title of "Con- 

 tributions from the Missouri Botanical Garden" a series of 

 bibliographical papers will be published, treating of every question 

 within the range of vegetable physiology. 



Students of any college in the country could assist me a great 

 deal, if they would inform me of their being willing to pick up 

 occasional notes on this or that question. The bibliographies of 

 Inuline, and of the Tannoids, both with special reference to the 

 r61e played by these constituents in vegetable physiology, have 

 already been issued. The question taken up at present is that of 

 the alcoholic fermentation. Anybody wishing to assist the writer 

 in preparing his bibliography on this subject by sending lists of 

 references — all of which will be welcome — or by looking through 

 a journal or other periodical, thus saving a little time for the 

 writer, without much loss of time for himself, will receive hearty 

 thanks, and will be mentioned as a contributor. 



This note being submitted to the attention of all students of 

 science as well as professional scientific men, I wish that students 

 of colleges and universities would act upon it. Often students 

 are at a loss as to how to do scientific work and contribute to general 

 knowledge. Here is one of the departments where much work is 

 needed. References might be taken in the following way : 



1. Select some chemical, botanical, or physiological journal. 



Begin with Vol. I., and go over the whole srries carefully, noticing 

 every place where the alcoholic fermentation has in any way been 

 mentioned. 



2. Write carefully : (a) Title of the paper, (b) name of the 

 journal (for journals, see Bolton's Catalogue of Scientific and 

 Technical Periodicals, 1665-1882, and his Catalogue of Chemical 

 Perioriicals, the fii'st is found in any library, and was published by 

 the Smithsonian Institution; the latter is found in the annals of the 

 New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. III., Nos. 6-7, pp. 161-216, 

 1883, with supplement, ibidem. Vol. IV., pp. 19-23, 1887j, (e) 

 volume, page, and year. 



3. Examine text-books and handbooks in which the question 

 of the alcoholic fermentation is mentioned. 



4. Examine also papers and works which do not bear directly 

 upon this matter; sometimes interesting remarks may be found. 



J. CHRISTIA.N Bay. 



Missouri Bot. Garden, St. Louis, Mo., July 18, 1893 



A Plea for Botany in the Small Colleges. 



The many pleas made for a better presentation of botany in the 

 larger institutions of the country, have induced me to add a word 

 for botany in the smaller colleges. 



The present status of the science in these institutions is indeed 

 discouraging asit is presented in their catalogues. The traditional 

 term of botany given by an instructor in physics or chemistry is 

 the common allowance doled out to the students. The conditions 

 are, however, changing gradually, and chairs of biology are being 

 established in many of the smaller colleges, whose incumbents are 

 occasionally botanists. As a teacher of botany in one of these 

 colleges, the writer wishes to add a plea for the introduction of 

 botany in its proper proportion into the college curriculum. 



The character of the work of the college is somewhat different 

 from that of the university in that its courses are necessarily 

 briefer and less specialized. Their students more frequently 



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