220 THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



than the mere collection of building material, and espe- 

 cially stimulates further work to strengthen it or to 

 demolish it. 



In the decade we are considering there has come into 

 the morphological camp a powerful ally. For conven- 

 ience, we speak of it as vascular anatomy; but it is the 

 application of the spirit of the new morphology, the evolu- 

 tionary morphology, to the vascular system of plants. 

 Before this reinforcement, the modern morphology was 

 dealing almost exclusively with the reproductive struc- 

 tures: sporangia and sex-organs, with their associated 

 structures. It had pressed these structures to the limit 

 of technique, developing morphological cytology. With 

 the vascular system brought into the morphological per- 

 spective, the first step was taken towards the inclusion 

 of vegetative as well as reproductive structures. It now 

 remains for some one to begin the organization of the 

 remaining vegetative regions upon the same basis; and 

 then morphology will have its facts fairly before it. 



The history of the subject called ''anatomy' 7 serves 

 well to illustrate the spirit of modern morphology. It 

 applied to such a mass of facts as are brought together, 

 for example, in DeBary's "Comparative Anatomy of 

 Phanerogams and Ferns," a task which the author re- 

 garded as the extreme of drudgery. The older morphol- 

 ogy included more or less of this material, for in those 

 days one fact was just about as important as another, and 

 some of these anatomical facts were conspicuous enough 

 for even elementary students to recognize. As is well 

 known, the newer morphology eliminated this whole enor- 

 mous body of material. The reason is evident and suffi- 

 cient. It was so completely unorganized that it could 

 not be used in any phylogenetic structure ; and the repro- 

 ductive structures could be so used. All but the blindest 

 morphologists recognized that this vast accumulation of 

 so-called anatomical material would have to be reckoned 

 with some day. It has now developed that the vascular 

 system has been the first thing organized out of the 



