Septembee 18, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



371 



stitution is a library of scope comparable with, 

 its own. "Whatever may be said against the 

 prevalent nomenclature discussions, it must 

 be admitted that they are having the effect 

 of bringing to the front the half-forgotten 

 work of many of our predecessors, some of 

 which, at least, is well worthy of resurrec- 

 tion, 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 pro- 

 moted 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 asso- 

 ciated 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 publications 

 as the journals, proceedings of societies, 

 etc., of mixed contents, which prove ex- 

 pensive 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 li- 

 brary, since they are 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 re- 

 search begun in any direction than the ne- 

 cessity of following up divergent threads 

 running in many directions becomes evi- 

 dent ; for so close and complex are the in- 

 terrelations between things in organic na- 

 ture, 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 li- 

 braries, stand undoubtedly the general 



classics in the several subdivisions of bot- 

 any, followed by the more restricted mem- 

 oirs, 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 complete on the shelves. 



Next to books, material preserving rec- 

 ords, 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 its 

 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 cultiva- 

 tion, etc.; and, however limited they may 

 be at first, such museum accessories as al- 

 coholic material, large wood and fruit speci- 

 mens, 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 equip- 

 ment. Though some of the best botanical 

 work has been performed entirely in the 

 herbarium, there has long been a growing 

 conviction that for certain groups of plants, 

 even for purposes of description and classi- 

 fication, field observation is absolutely ne- 

 cessary, while it is self-evident that for all 

 studies of biology living material is essen- 

 tial. Side by side with the herbarium, 

 then, and virtually as a part of the same 

 general collection, stands the experimental 

 garden, with its greenhouses and other ap- 

 pliances. 



While many of the most useful studies 

 are made with but few aids beyond the li- 

 brary and collections referred to, there is a 



