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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 90. 



large class of subjects, now being closely 

 followed by some of tbe keenest investiga- 

 tors, 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 of manufacturing cities, and where 

 illuminating gas is used, books, when once 

 classified and indexed, are easily and 

 cheaply kept in a usable manner. If a few 

 simple rules are followed, herbarium mate- 

 rial is also preserved safely for generations 

 at a very small cost ; and even sections, and 

 specimens in fluid if properly preserved in 

 the first place, 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 microscopes, microtomes 

 and balances, they are rarely made in num- 

 bers allowing any great economy in the la- 

 bor of manufacture. Each of them is also, 

 unfortunately, with few exceptions, calcu- 

 lated for a restricted class of experiments 

 and likely soon to be greatly modified. Ap- 

 paratus, 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 ten 

 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 in part entirely out of date and for the rest 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 laborato- 

 ries — in which delicate apparatus is chiefly 

 used — furthermore shows that the most im- 

 portant results, as a rule, are not obtained 

 by the use of commercial instruments, but 



by simple apparatus designed by the inves- 

 tigator to meet the precise needs of the 

 problem with which he is busied, and usu- 

 ally constructed by him or his laboratory 

 mechanic at very little cost. 



Although it seems comparatively easy to 

 decide on the proper limits of library, her- 

 barium and instrumental equipment for a 

 given institution, knowing its scope, situa- 

 tion and resources, it is very difficult to ar- 

 rive at as satisfactory a conclusion concern- 

 ing the extent of the research garden. As a 

 general thing, such gardens are also in- 

 tended to be useful in college work, or to 

 afford pleasure and instruction to the pub- 

 lic, so that they are likely to be heteroge- 

 neous, almost of necessity, and usually they 

 are made far too comprehensive. More than 

 any other class of facilities, garden plants 

 require constant and expensive attention if 

 they are to be kept in usable condition; and 

 with all of the care that can be given them, 

 they are forever performing the most inex- 

 plicable and unexpected gyrations with 

 their labels, so that the collections grown 

 in botanical gardens (because of their va- 

 riety) are notoriously ill-named, though it 

 would naturally be supposed that they, of all 

 collections, would be above suspicion in this 

 respect. 



My object being to speak of facilities for 

 research, rather than education or enter- 

 tainment, I ought to pass by this part of 

 the subject with a mere mention ; but I can 

 hardly dismiss it without comment. Where 

 the only object is to supplement the facili- 

 ties for undergraduate work, the scope of a 

 garden can be very small or moderately 

 large, according to the courses it is to help 

 elucidate. It may be confined to what 

 may be called a propagating bed for plants 

 needed in quantity, either in season or out 

 of season, for class use, to an exemplification 

 of the natural affinities of plants, or to vari- 

 ous other instructive synopses, representing 

 medicinal plants, fibre plants, forage plants, 



