284 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 8&. 



B. Physics — Gael Baeus, of Providence, E. I. 



a Chemistry— W. P. MASON, of Troy, N. Y. 



D. Mechanical Science and Engineering — John Gal- 

 BEAITH, of Toronto, Canada. 



K Geology and Geography— 1. C. White, of Morgan- 

 town, W. Va. 



F. Zoology— G. Beown Goode, of Washington, 

 D. C. 



G. Botany — Geoege F. Atkinson, of Ithaca, N. Y. 

 H. Anthropology— 'W J McGee, of Washington, 



D. C. 



I. Social and Economic Science — Eichaed T. Col- 

 BUEN, of Elizabeth, N. J. 



PERMANENT SECRETARY. 

 F. W. Putnam, of Cambridge, Mass. (Office, 

 Salem, Mass.) 



GENERAL SECRETARY. 

 AsAPH Hall, Je., of Ann Arbor, Mich. 



SECRETARY OP THE COUNCIL. 

 D. S. Kellicott, of Columbus, Ohio. 



SECRETARIES OF THE SECTIONS. 



A. Mathematics and Astronomy — James McMahon, 

 of Ithaca, N. Y. 



B. Physics — Feedeeick Bedell, of Ithaca, N. Y. 



C. Chemistry — P. C. Feeee, of Ann Arbor, Mich. 



D. Mechanical Science and Engineering — John J. 

 Flathee, of LaFayette, Ind. 



E. Geology and Geography — C. H. Smyth, Je., of 

 Clinton, N. Y. 



F. Zoology — C. C. Nutting, of Iowa City, Iowa. 



G. Botany — F. C. Newcombe, of Ann Arbor, Mich. 

 H. Anthropology — Haelan I. Smith, of New 



York, N. Y. 



/. Social and Economic Science — Aechibald Blue, 

 of Toronto, Canada. 



TREASURER. 



E. S. WooDWAED, of New York, N. Y. 



Charles R. Barnes, 



General Secretary. 

 Madison, Wis. 



BOTANICAL GARDENS* 

 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. 



The cultivation of plants within small 

 areas for their healing qualities by the 

 monks of the middle ages appears to have 



* Vice-Presidential address before Section G 

 American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence, Buffalo, N. Y., August 24, 1896. 



been the beginning of the modern botanical 

 garden, although these mediaeval gardens 

 doubtless took their origin from others of 

 greater antiquity. Botanical gardens were 

 thus primarily formed for purely utilitarian 

 purposes, although the aesthetic study of 

 planting and of flowers must doubtless have 

 appealed to their owners and visitors. 

 Their function as aids in scientific teaching 

 and research, the one which at present fur- 

 nishes the dominating reason for their ex- 

 istence, did not develop much, if at all, be- 

 fore the 16th century, and prior to the 

 middle of the 17th century a considerable 

 number existed in Europe, in which this 

 function was recognized to-a greater or less 

 degree, of which those at Bologna, Mont- 

 pellier, Ley den, Paris and Upsala were, per- 

 haps, the most noteworthy. The orna- 

 mental and decorative taste for planting 

 had meanwhile been slowly gaining ground,, 

 as well as the desire to cultivate rare or un- 

 usual species, and during the 18th century 

 attained a high degree of development- 

 Many persons of wealth and influence fos- 

 tered this taste and became, through the 

 employment of men skilled in botany and 

 horticulture, generous patrons of science.. 

 The world was searched for new and rare 

 plants, which were brought home to Europe 

 for cultivation, and many sumptuous vol- 

 umes, describing and delineating them, were 

 published, mainly through the same patron- 

 age. The older gardens were essentially 

 private institutions, but as the rights of 

 the people became more and more recog- 

 nized, many existing establishments and 

 an increasing number of newly founded 

 ones became, to a greater or less extent, 

 open to the public, either through an ad- 

 mittance fee or without charge. The four 

 main elements of the modern botanical 

 garden have thus been brought into it suc- 

 cessively : 



1. The utilitarian or economic. 



2. The aesthetic. 



