BOTANICAL OPPORTUNITY. 523 



Laving the eifect of bringing to the front the half-forgotten work of 

 many of our predecessors, some of which, at least, is well worthy of 

 resurrection, and, incidentally, this is stocking our larger libraries with 

 a class of books which have confessedly been too much neglected of 

 late. Without for a moment losing sight "of the fact that botany is a 

 study of one branch of nature, an object-study, we must recognize 

 that its prosecution beyond the merest elements is not only greatly 

 promoted by but almost dependent upon a knowledge of what has 

 already been done. 



^ Where an institution is located in a literary or scientific center, 

 closely associated with large general libraries, learned bodies, and the 

 like, it is usually relieved of the necessity for purchasing and keeping 

 up the long files of such serial jDublications as thejournals, r)roceedings 

 of societies, etc., of mixed contents, which prove expensive alike in 

 cost, binding, and space which for a given subject are used but seldom, 

 and which, nevertheless, are the most valuable part of a large reference 

 library, since they are the hardest to duplicate. But where a botanical 

 institution stands in absolute or comparative isolation, it must carry 

 this burden in addition to that of maintaining a library of treatises on 

 botany alone. And, moreover, no sooner is research begun in any direc- 

 tion, than the necessity of following up divergent threads running in 

 many directions becomes evident; for so close and complex are the inter- 

 relations between things in organic nature, that no single subject can be 

 pursued far without drawing in others at first sight having no possible 

 bearing on it. After the serials, which from their expensiveness can 

 be possessed by only the larger libraries, stand undoubtedly the general 

 classics in the several subdivisions of botany, followed by the more 

 restricted memoirs, and among these, for convenience of use, should 

 be found, whenever possible, separates and reprints from the journals 

 and series of proceedings, even when the latter are comjjlete on the 

 shelves. 



Next to books, material preserving records, or available for study, 

 forms the great foundation in any research institution. A generation 

 ago, or even less, this expression would have been taken as synonymous 

 with an herbarium, perhaps associated with a garden of greater or less 

 extent; but to day the most comprehensive of museum possibilities 

 must be added, so greatly has the subject broadened and increased the 

 needs. For a broadly planned institution, with ample means, no doubt 

 the scope of the herbarium should be as great as that of the library, 

 comprising every group of plants, representing a wide range of geo- 

 graphical distribution, the effects of cultivation, etc.; and, however 

 limited they may be at first, such museum accessories as alcoholic 

 material, large wood and fruit specimens, and sections for microscopic 

 study are sure to accumulate quite as rapidly as they can be cared for 

 suitably, and to prove in time a very important part of the equipment. 

 Though some of the best botanical work has been performed entirely in 

 the herbarium, there has long been a growing conviction that for certain 



