

8 ItoTANlC GARDBNS 



formed by Goebel, and a numberof anatomical preparations by 

 the elder Hartig, which were made before thecurrent ideaof the 

 cell had been reached, are prophetic in their accuracy of repre- 

 sentation of certain cell structures. A complete series of micro- 

 scopes, representing the entire development of that important 

 instrument in research, in all branches of natural history, is to 

 be seen at Tiibingen. In one of the enclosures at this place is a 

 rockery five hundred feet longand twenty feet wide,upon which 

 are growing two thousand species of Alpineplants. Thenicetv 

 with which plants of this character select slope, moisture, soil 

 and sunlight in their natural habitat on mountain sides and in 

 northern latitudes can scarcely be comprehended by one who 

 has not seen them so growing. It is by such groups of living 

 forms that contributions looking to the solutionof thegreatest 

 questions in biology ma^ r be made, and their formation requires 

 such a degree of skill in the gardener's art and such an intimate 

 knowledge of plant life as to be possible only for one with the 

 instincts of a naturalist. 



Botany has been given an important place on the college 

 curriculum in America scarcely more than sixtyyears. Incom- 

 paratively recent years a few gardens havecome intoexistence, 

 nearly all of which are still in a state of rapid development. 

 During this period of flux they have been able only to afford 

 facilities for general elementary instruction, and to make possi- 

 ble original work in the classification of our native plants — a 

 line of research which has been carried on more or less steadily 

 since the earlier settlements were made on thissideof theAtlan- 

 tic. At the present time a few have begun to offer opportuni- 

 ties for higher teaching in the more important branches of bo- 

 tanical science. Among these may be mentioned the Missouri 

 Botanical Garden of St. Louis, connected with the Washington 

 Universitv, the Botanical Garden and Arnold Arboretum of 

 Harvard University, and the Botanic Garden of New York, 

 now in process of formation and to be connected with Colum- 

 bia College. The purpose of the Missouri institution may be 

 best illustrated by the following quotation from the will of its 

 founder, — "with the view of having for the use of the public a 

 botanical garden easily accessible, which should be foreverkept* 



