1922.] Indian Science Congress. I.8.C. 99 
of India is reported to be in preparation,! but it will of neces- 
sity be incomplete, for “‘ the total number of recorded species 
is probably under 2000, which is certainly not one-fourth of 
those that exist’ (p. 65) in the country. In the end we should 
have works on Indian cryptogams of such a type as Wrst’s? 
British Freshwater Algae. 
Cultivated plants have not received and are not now re- 
ceiving the attention they deserve. The classification of culti- 
value will be the published results, if the varietal names are 
wrongly applied ? Ten years ago, in his address as retiring 
president of the Botanical Society of Washington, PiPeR 
recorded his belief that fully 50 per cent of the crop varieties 
published upon in varietal experiments were either untrue to 
name or unidentifiable. But how shall they become identifi- 
able without adequate description and classification! And 
how shall they become adequately described and classified 
without botanists to study them?’ Such classification is 
just as urgently needed in India, before the improvement of 
crop plants can be put on a firm scientific footing. Taxonom- 
ists should not regard the classification of cultivated plants 
as outside the domains of legitimate botany. Not only is 
such work greatly needed, but it can be done best by thorough- 
ly trained botanists. 
MorpPHoOLoGy AND ANATOMY. 
The common 
a distance 
is a confession of expediency—of making use of material 
ching through 
know itful, rather than sear 
nown beforehand to be fruitfu ‘athe paper’ Beigel 





1 Butter, E. J. Report of the hasten Mycologist. Sci. Repts 
Agric. Res. Inst., Pusa 1919-20 : 58-67. 1920. : 
2 West,G.S. British Freshwater Algae. Casebriaers: -_ a 
3 Batt, Cartetron R. e relation of crop-plant otany 
man welfare. Amer. Jour. Bot. 3: 323-338. 1921. 
