26 



BOTANIC GARDENS. 



library of the university, containing two hundred thousand vol- 

 umes, in an hour or two. Outside the laboratories lies a garden 

 stocked with an inimense variety of well-grown plants represent- 

 ing great diversities of form and habitat, and presenting suitable 

 material for the solution of a number of the more important open 

 questions in the subject. Stretching away on every hand is the 

 rich fiora of the limestone hills, crested by coniferous forests. 

 The subalpine vegetation of the Swabian Alps may also be 

 reached by an excursion of a few kilometres. 



The forests, lying within half an hour's walk of the garden, 

 embrace examples of the royal, communal, and private systems 



Group of Microscopes from the von Mohl Collection. The upright wooden stand on 

 the right was used by Gaertner. The modern form on thc lett belonged to Hofineister. 

 The remaining stands were designed or used by von Molil. After a photograph. 



of management, and afford splendid opportunities for study in 

 dendrology. 



The most valuable part of the worker's experience, with such 

 ample facilities at hand, however, is that which comes from the 

 advice, encouragement, and suggestions of the director. Con- 

 stantly engaged in the most laborious research for more than a 

 quarter of a century, he has a vivid and sympathetic appreciation 

 of the difficulties which beset the investigator, and his keen in- 

 sight into the physiology of plant life leads him quickly to the 

 solution of the problem in hand. His time and patience are 

 unstintingly given to any who may have the slightest claim 

 upon them, and the many times repeated assertion that the Ger- 

 man professor gives a minor portion of his time only to nis 

 students is certainly ungrounded here. The writer is not ac- 

 quainted with any American laboratory for botany in which the 

 professor in charge devotes a greater proportion of his time to 

 the student. In earlier times the Tubingen professors carried 



