Proceedings of the Ohio State Academy of Science. 87 



that results. The chief concern should be to make the strongest 

 and most independent students possible; for this is our greatest 

 responsibility as teachers, whether we train for vocational pur- 

 poses or for liberal culture. If some students reach the point 

 where they can do creditable investigation, partly or wholly as 

 undergraduates, there is no cause for alarm, for they probably 

 could not do it, had not the foundation been laid in proper in- 

 struction in the fundamentals of the science. 



Teaching is one of the best known stimuli to high think- 

 ing and is therefore an aid to valuable research. The college 

 teacher will not accomplish sO' much as the botanist who devotes 

 himself largely or wholly to research ; but he should be able to 

 work as effectively as any, and perchance often accomplish more 

 in a given time than the man who devotes himself largely or ex- 

 clusively tO' study. This is in itself one argument for investigation 

 by the teacher, but the reciprocal argument that the research is an 

 aid in teaching is of course a far stronger one. 



The investigation of some college teachers of Botany may be 

 of doubtful value; but so is some of that of an occasional botanist 

 who devotes himself largely or wholly to research, and this surely 

 does not destroy the value of our argument regarding the 

 relation of research to teaching in the college. No teacher 

 of Botany who believes that a limited amount of research is an 

 aid to his teaching should fail tO' carry on private investigation. 

 He may be wise in working long and faithfully in oblivion rather 

 than let a piece of work pass from him before he feels sure of 

 its value. The reward for the teacher is in the stimulating effect 

 of the eiTort quite as much as in the amount that he may be able 

 to produce. One should not consider it beneath him to investi- 

 gate some problem of real value to his community, region, or 

 state, though it may be regarded lightly by certain trained 

 botanists, who may not after all be competent judges. Again, one 

 should hesitate least of all to investigate some problem belonging 

 to college conditions, of which college teachers are themselves the 

 best judges. Or the problem may be something related to our 

 teaching, and likewise of world-wide botanical interest. 



