22 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XL V 



summits and lowland plains, high and low latitudes, 

 with results of somewhat limited value until recently. 

 The first of these in which plants were used was made by 

 Nageli, who carried on observational work on a large 

 number of species in plantations of the botanical garden 

 at Munich, detecting certain obvious alterations which 

 did not appear to offer anything of hereditary value. 



The more recent work of Bonnier was directed chiefly 

 toward comparison of the vegetative activity, anatomical 

 modification, and developmental habit of plants ex- 

 changed between the mountain and low-land. The care 

 used in attempting to transport soils with the plant was 

 almost wholly without direct application, since the char- 

 acter of the soil is so largely a function of climate that 

 the course of a single season would suffice to change or 

 materially modify any transported soil. Such a precau- 

 tion might have the sole merit of furnishing the trans- 

 planted species with a limited amount of some compound 

 necessary for its growth, but any small amount of soil 

 becomes quickly permeated by solutions from the forma- 

 tions below and contiguous to it. Bonnier 's results in- 

 clude much that is suggestive, although no effects were 

 secured which did not disappear within two or three sea- 

 sons after a plant had been removed from the influence 

 of the exciting agencies or returned to its original hab- 

 itat. 



The first realization of results of importance from 

 cultures widely extended geographically has been ob- 

 tained in the experiments with Leptinotarsae by Tower, 

 in which various species of these beetles were studied in 

 their habitats in southern Mexico, in open air and glass 

 houses as far north as Chicago, as far east as the Atlan- 

 tic and as far west as the Desert Laboratory. Facilities 

 for work upon special problems are now being organized 

 at several places and many contributions to the subject 

 may be expected within the next decade. 



The plan for work upon the problems of special in- 

 terest in connection with the Department of Botanical 



