TORREYA 



Vol. 43 July 1943 No. 1 



Introduction 



The Torrey Botanical Club is the oldest botanical society in America, and 

 ever since its founding, its members have been active in all botanical move- 

 ments, such as the discussions of rules of nomenclature, the establishment of 

 the Botanical Section of the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, and of other botanical organizations ; and at the Semicentennial Cele- 

 bration of the Club in 1917, preliminary discussions were held which have since 

 led to the establishment of "Botanical Abstracts," now "Biological Abstracts." 

 With this record of botanical achievement it seemed fitting that a Seventy-fifth 

 Anniversary Celebration should be held. In the fall of 1941 Dr. J. S. Karling, 

 then President of the Club, appointed a large committee to discuss the pos- 

 sibilities of such a celebration. It was decided to hold the celebration in New 

 York in June 1942, independently of meetings of the American Association of 

 the Advancement of Science and of other botanical societies. However, all 

 botanists were invited to participate. It was also decided to hold four sessions, 

 at which papers would be presented, in four different local institutions ; to 

 leave the afternoons free for recreation and inspection of these institutions : 

 and to provide some evening entertainment and a field trip. Smaller com- 

 mittees were appointed to work out the details of securing speakers, and of 

 arranging for the accommodation of visitors and delegates. As events worked 

 out, the summer scientific meetings at Ann Arbor, Michigan, were canceled 

 and the Botanical Society of America joined in the celebration of the Club 

 in lieu of a separate summer meeting in the East. 



Registration began Monday morning, June 22, 1942, at Columbia Univer- 

 sity. At 2 :00 p.m. the first session was called to order by Dr. E. B. Matzke. 

 Dr. Karling gave an interesting review of the development of the Department 

 of Botany at Columbia from the early days before the University occupied 

 its present site, and told of the establishment of the Elgin Botanical Garden 

 as an aid to the teaching of botany. Then followed the papers by Drs. F. T. 

 Lewis, C. E. Allen, R. H. Wetmore, and E. W. Sinnott. These are presented 

 here, although the papers of Dr. Lewis and Dr. Sinnott are in somewhat 

 abbreviated form. 



After the formal program the visitors resorted to the Low Memorial 

 Library for tea, and to examine a display of books and reports by John Torrey, 

 and photographs of former botanists at Columbia and of others associated 

 with the Torrey Botanical Club in earlier days. In the evening the anniversary 



ToRREYA for July (Vol. 43, 1-85) was issued August 11 , 1943 



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