]922.] Indian Science Congress. LS.C. 113 
ly wasteful. I want to suggest just a few problems, the signi- 
ficance of which will at once be apparent. 
animal fats, mainly butter. Development along scientific 
lines of indigenous wild food plants—-roots, tubers, fruits, and 
systems of medicine on a modern footing. Various aspects o 
the forestry industry will bear much more study. The produc- 
tion of gums, resins, rubber, dyes, essential oils, and paper 
pulp are other problems for research in the field of economic 
botany. 
EpucationaL AspEots OF Borany. 
Our Indian botany is still in its infancy. In the Univer- 
sity of Allahabad fewer than one-half of the affiliated colleges 
teach science ; of these only six include biology, and none offer 
instruction above the B.Sc. degree. The centers in India 
providing for advanced training in botany are all too few. 
A feature of botanical education that should engage our 
best attention is the content and purpose of our courses. e 
should not be satisfied that the traditional content of botany 
is good enough. Our present education is altogether too the- 
oretical. It makes too little contact with the actual problems 
of the country. I believe we need to put much more emphasis 
its scientific interest, and to prepare specialists. Whatever the 
purpose, the value of the teaching depends much less on the 
attitude of the teacher; and it is just here that we can make 
the greatest improvement in botanical education 
Tn connection with instruction we sh ‘be 
prepared with special reference to Indian needs and conditions, 
and in the spirit of modern developments in education, to free 
us from dependence on foreign texts. Professor Ranoa ACHA- 
RIAR! has attempted to do this in his elementary text-book. 
We need really interesting nature study books for our middle 
schools, texts for high school grade, and at least one rather 
advanced text for B.Sc. student. This last might well be 

| Ranoa Acnartar, K. A Manual of Elementary Botany for Ind 
Madras, 1916. 
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