GLEASON: CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CLUB TO TAXONOMY 2,7 



in 1901, primarily for a revival of opportunity for the discussion of local 

 botany, but it also has given a fraction of its space to taxonomic research. 



As a matter of statistics, it may be recorded that to the end of 1941, the 

 Club has published a total of 22,098 pages of printed matter devoted to pure 

 taxonomy or to cognate subjects primarily of interest to taxonomists. I feel 

 certain that this impressive total is not approached by any other American 

 magazine during the same three-quarters of a century. 



In the preparation of this paper, I have leafed through the publications 

 of the Club and haA^e compiled two graphs showing the amount of taxonomic 

 publication year by year, and the proportion, expressed in percentage, of the 

 total publication which has been devoted to taxonomy. In doing so I have 

 often had to make hasty judgments as to the taxonomic or non-taxonomic 

 classification of an article, and I have also tried to take into account the general 

 nature of the membership of the Club and of its audience at the different 

 periods in its history. Consequently I have included in taxonomy many short 

 articles from the early volumes which, if printed today, would be regarded 

 merely as interesting notes of no special botanical value. The resulting graphs, 

 to revive an ancient New York simile, were as crooked as Pearl Street and 

 their general trend was badly obscured by the huge annual fluctuations. For 

 presentation today I have smoothed them out severely so that neither the 

 highest peaks nor the lowest depressions now appear. These graphs speak for 

 themselves and require little comment or explanation (Fig. 1). 



The first curve shows the number of printed pages in the Club's publica- 

 tions which have been used for taxonomy. It shows the feeble results of the 

 Club's activities during its struggling first decade ; the rapid rise of taxonomy 

 in the nineties, as Britton and Rusby came into action and as the Bulletin 

 became a national rather than a local organ ; the huge productivity in taxonomy 

 at the turn of the century when those active young men Britton, Small, and 

 Rvdberg were at their best ; and the gradual decrease in total taxonomic 

 matter in the last three decades as space became available in several new 

 puljlications. Since the curve is smoothed it does not show the peak of publica- 

 tion, which was 932 pages in 1906, nor the lowest point of the last half century, 

 which was 101 pages in 1926. 



The second curve shows the percentage of total publication which has dealt 

 with taxonomy. It shows the almost exclusively taxonomic interests of the 

 membership in the early days of the Club, followed by twenty years of gradual 

 diversification; a temporary rise over another twenty years, as the unparal- 

 leled productivity of New York botanists overbalanced the generally growing, 

 interest in morphology and physiology ; a general period of decline during 

 the next thirtv vears as the interests of the members became more diversified : 



