524 BOTANICAL OPPORTUNITY. 



groups of plants, even for purposes of description and classification, 

 field observation is absolutely necessary, while it is self-evident that 

 for all studies of biology living material is essential. Side by side with 

 the herbarium, then, and virtually as a part of the same general collec- 

 tion, stands the experimental garden, with its greenhouses and other 

 appliances. 



While many of the most useful studies are made with but few aids 

 beyond the library and collections referred to, there is a large class of 

 subjects, now being closely followed by some of the keenest investigators, 

 which demand a special instrumental equipment. However it may be 

 with library and collections, there seems little doubt that, as a rule, 

 apparatus should be obtained only as it is needed for direct use. 

 Except for the rotting of the bindings observed in the libraries o± manu- 

 facturing cities and where illuminating gas is used, books, when once 

 classifi.ed and indexed, are easily and cheaply kept in a usable condi- 

 tion. If a few simple rules are followed herbarium material is also pre- 

 served safely for generations at a very small cost; and even sections 

 and specimens in fluid, if properly preserved in the first i)lace, may be 

 kept for many years without great deterioration. Instruments designed 

 for research, as a general thing, represent a considerable sum of money, 

 since, excepting microscoijes, microtomes, and balances, they are rarely 

 made in numbers allowing any great economy in the labor of manufac- 

 ture. Each of them is also, unfortunately, with few exceptions, calcu- 

 lated for a restricted class of experiments and likely soon to be greatly 

 modified. Apparatus, moreover, is usually of a delicacy of adjustment 

 calling for the greatest care in handling it and the most perfect protec- 

 tion possible against rusting, etc., so that, as a general thing, a case of 

 instruments 10 years old is merely a historical curiosity, in part entirely 

 out of date, and for the rest so badly out of order as to be nearly or 

 quite useless. Except for a few standard instruments, I think it is now 

 generally recognized that this part of the facilities, however costly it 

 may be, should be regarded as transient, perishable material, rather 

 than a permanent equipment. The history of the most successful 

 physiological laboratories, in which delicate apparatus is chiefly used, 

 furthermore shows that the most important results, as a rule, are not 

 obtained by the use of commercial instruments, but by simple appara- 

 tus designed by the investigator to meet the ijrecise needs of the prob- 

 lem with which he is busied, and usually constructed by him or his 

 laboratory mechanic at very little cost. 



Although it seems comparatively easy to decide on the proper limits 

 of library, herbarium, and instrumental equipment for a given institu- 

 tion, knowing its scope, situation, and resources, it is very difflcult to 

 arrive at as satisfactory a conclusion concerning the extent of the 

 research garden. As a geueral thing such gardens are also intended 

 to be useful in college work, or to afford jileasure and instruction to the 

 public, so that they are likely to be heterogeneous almost of necessity, 

 and usually they are made far too comprehensive. More than any 



