﻿276 
  G. 
  L. 
  Goodale 
  — 
  Possibilities 
  of 
  Economic 
  Botany. 
  

  

  and 
  assiduous 
  workmen. 
  So 
  that, 
  in 
  fact, 
  our 
  question 
  resolves 
  

   itself 
  into 
  this 
  : 
  can 
  these 
  practical 
  investigators 
  hope 
  to 
  make 
  

   any 
  substantial 
  advance? 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  glance 
  first 
  at 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  our 
  

   wild 
  and 
  cultivated 
  plants 
  have 
  been 
  singled 
  out 
  for 
  use. 
  We 
  

   shall, 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  each 
  class, 
  allude 
  to 
  the 
  methods 
  by 
  which 
  

   the 
  selected 
  plants 
  have 
  been 
  improved, 
  or 
  their 
  products 
  

   fully 
  utilized. 
  Thus 
  looking 
  the 
  ground 
  over, 
  although 
  not 
  

   minutely, 
  we 
  can 
  see 
  what 
  new 
  plants 
  are 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  added 
  

   to 
  our 
  list. 
  Our 
  illustrations 
  can, 
  at 
  the 
  best, 
  be 
  only 
  fragmen- 
  

  

  We 
  shall 
  not 
  have 
  time 
  to 
  treat 
  the 
  different 
  divisions 
  of 
  

   the 
  subject 
  in 
  precisely 
  the 
  proportions 
  which 
  would 
  be 
  de- 
  

   manded 
  by 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  essay 
  ; 
  an 
  address 
  on 
  an 
  occasion 
  like 
  

   this 
  must 
  pass 
  lightly 
  over 
  some 
  matters 
  which 
  other 
  oppor- 
  

   tunities 
  for 
  discussion 
  could 
  properly 
  examine 
  with 
  great 
  ful- 
  

   ness. 
  Unfortunately, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  minor 
  topics 
  which 
  must 
  be 
  

   thus 
  passed 
  by, 
  possess 
  considerable 
  popular 
  interest 
  ; 
  one 
  of 
  

   these 
  is 
  the 
  first 
  subordinate 
  question 
  introductory 
  to 
  our 
  task, 
  

   namely, 
  how 
  were 
  our 
  useful 
  cultivated 
  and 
  wild 
  plants 
  se- 
  

   lected 
  for 
  use 
  ? 
  

  

  A 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  history 
  of 
  plants 
  employed 
  for 
  cere- 
  

   monial 
  purposes, 
  in 
  religious 
  solemnities, 
  in 
  incantations, 
  and 
  

   for 
  medicinal 
  uses, 
  shows 
  how 
  slender 
  has 
  sometimes 
  been 
  the 
  

   claim 
  of 
  certain 
  plants 
  to 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  any 
  real 
  utility. 
  

   But 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  plants 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  brought 
  to 
  notice 
  in 
  

   these 
  ways 
  have 
  afterwards 
  been 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  utilizable 
  in 
  some 
  

   fashion 
  or 
  other. 
  This 
  is 
  often 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  cases 
  of 
  the 
  plants 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  suggested 
  for 
  medicinal 
  use 
  through 
  the 
  absurd 
  

   doctrine 
  of 
  signatures. 
  3 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  clear 
  that, 
  except 
  in 
  modern 
  times, 
  useful 
  plants 
  

   have 
  been 
  selected 
  almost 
  wholly 
  by 
  chance, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  well 
  

   be 
  said 
  that 
  a 
  selection 
  by 
  accident 
  is 
  no 
  selection 
  at 
  all. 
  Now- 
  

   adays, 
  the 
  new 
  selections 
  are 
  based 
  on 
  analogy. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  striking 
  illustrations 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  method 
  is 
  afforded 
  

   by 
  the 
  utilization 
  of 
  bamboo 
  fiber 
  for 
  electric 
  lamps. 
  

  

  Some 
  of 
  the 
  classes 
  of 
  useful 
  plants 
  must 
  be 
  passed 
  by 
  with- 
  

   out 
  present 
  discussion 
  ; 
  others 
  alluded 
  to 
  slightly, 
  while 
  still 
  

   other 
  groups 
  fairly 
  representative 
  of 
  selection 
  and 
  improve- 
  

   ment 
  will 
  be 
  more 
  fully 
  described. 
  In 
  this 
  latter 
  class 
  would 
  

   naturally 
  come, 
  of 
  course, 
  the 
  food-plants 
  known 
  as 
  

  

  I. 
  The 
  Cereals. 
  

  

  Let 
  us 
  look 
  first 
  at 
  these. 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  of 
  grasses 
  which 
  yield 
  these 
  seed-like 
  fruits, 
  or 
  

   as 
  we 
  might 
  call 
  them 
  for 
  our 
  purpose 
  seeds, 
  are 
  numerous 
  ; 
  4 
  

   twenty 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  cultivated 
  largely 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  World, 
  but 
  

  

  