376 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IY. No. 90. 



sity it must assume the duty of publication 

 if it is to accomplish the greatest results 

 possible from its direct investigation. 



One has only to pass a short time in the 

 library of one of the larger scientific insti- 

 tutions to be convinced that a great deal of 

 activity is manifested in the botanical 

 world. Each month and each week brings 

 many additions to the literature of the 

 science, and so numerous, varied and 

 widely scattered are these contributions 

 that one feels the greatest hesitancy in 

 publishing on even the most restricted sub- 

 ject, lest others should have antedated his 

 discoveries. Yet, notwithstanding the va- 

 riety and number of botanical publications, 

 and the great progress which is undeniably 

 made every year, it is a matter of frequent 

 comment that the progress made is by no 

 means so much greater than that of our 

 predecessors as might be expected, consid- 

 ering the greater advantages under which 

 work is prosecuted to-day. "While it must 

 be borne in mind that the seizing of the 

 general features of a landscape is far easier 

 than the working out of its detailed topog- 

 raphy, that the outlining of the field of 

 botany or of its principal divisions could 

 not fail to proceed more rapidly, even under 

 unfavorable conditions, than the elabora- 

 tion of the details of the many specialties 

 into which it is now broken up, so that less 

 prompt and voluminous results are natu- 

 rally to be expected now than a generation 

 ago, there is reason to question whether the 

 present returns cannot be increased. How 

 to secure the greatest possible results from 

 the large number of trained men and of 

 men holding or soon to hold salaried posi- 

 tions, and from the large equipment in 

 laboratories, libraries, herbaria and gar- 

 dens, is a subject deserving of the most 

 careful study, whether viewed from the 

 standpoint of the endower or administrator 

 of an institution of education or research, 

 or from that of the botanist whose reputa- 



tion is built up in the performance of the 

 duties assigned to him in such an institu- 

 tion. 



While there is every reason to expect 

 large returns from the endowment of such 

 independent departments of research, free- 

 dom from the duties of the class room, 

 while leaving more time available for in- 

 vestigation, will not prove an unmixed 

 blessing. I believe it to be the experience 

 of the best investigators in this country 

 that research is promoted by the necessity 

 of imparting some or all of its results in the 

 class room. In no other way, after special- 

 izing to the small field in which it seems 

 necessary for most of us to confine our- 

 selves, can one make sure of preserving the 

 breadth of view needed for the investiga- 

 tion of even a limited specialty in the most 

 successful manner. It must be admitted 

 further that the power of application and 

 concentration varies with different men, so 

 that up to a certain point the interruptions 

 introduced by limited teaching or looking 

 after collections in many cases may give 

 fresh zest to the pursuit of knowledge in 

 the time remaining for research. And it 

 may be that at this very point lies the 

 greatest difficulty to be met and surmounted 

 in the development and management of re- 

 search institutions. 



Though there is no doubt that some super- 

 vision and pressure are conducive to the 

 performance of the greatest possible amount 

 of investigation, as of other work, since 

 they insure consistent planning and close 

 application, it cannot be overlooked that 

 this is the extent to which scientific work 

 can profitably be crowded. To require 

 more of an investigator than that he shall 

 be reasonably busy with thoughtfully 

 planned study is and has always been an- 

 tagonistic to the performance of his best 

 work ; and the requirement of some institu- 

 tions that a bulletin shall emanate from 

 each department at stated intervals, while 



