given geographical area, irrespective of their botanical 

 relationships to one another (floristics) ; or a study of a 

 given group of related plants, irrespective of their 

 geographical distribution (taxonomy). While the Gar- 

 den's contributions have been mainly of the first kind, 

 a notable example of the second type is that of "The 

 Cactaceae; Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants 

 of the Cactus Family," "a work of four volumes, the 

 joint research of the New York Garden, the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 



At present the scientific staff of the Garden includes 

 thirteen members, and of these ten are systematic 

 botanists engaged in the kind of research above de- 

 scribed during such portions of their time as their other 

 duties permit. Among these the different groups of 

 plants are partly represented, some are receiving ade- 

 quate attention, and the work in these goes on at a 

 satisfactory pace. It should be added, however, that with 

 the relatively considerable staff of experienced specialists 

 at the top there is a serious lack of assistants below. 



Modern plants are the descendants of those which 



lived and, in largest part, developed, culminated, and 



„ , . disappeared in the geological past. 



Paleobotany ° , . 



To understand fully the botanical 

 life of today and its local distribution, we must often 

 study and reproduce both the life of the past and the 

 geological history of the particular region. In the early 

 development of the Garden, the importance of these re- 

 searches was appreciated ; and to forward and strengthen 

 them, the Trustees of Columbia University deposited 

 in the Museum of the Garden its very extensive collec- 

 tions of fossil plants, which were among the best in 

 America. To them, from time to time, the expeditions 

 of the Garden have added accessions. The interest 

 and importance of this branch have always been realized 



[6] 



