48 



The Plant World. 



and Zoology by Hermon Carey Bumpus. In connection with 

 the celebration an exhibition was held, consisting of Darwiniana 

 and selected series of specimens bearing upon the Darwinian 

 theory of natural selection. 



Among still other institutions that have embraced the 

 opportunity to celebrate this anniversary of Darwin's birth, 

 coincident with the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the 

 Origin of Species, the Michigan Academy of Science and the 

 Michigan Schoolmasters' Club will hold joint sessions on April 

 1 and 2, at which papers will be presented dealing with the 

 factors of evolution, the mutation theory, palaeontology from 

 the evolution point of view, heredity and allied subjects. Pro- 

 fessor W. B. Scott, of Princeton, and Dr. C. B. Davenport, of 

 the Carnegie Institution, will be among the participants. 



It is an interesting fact that the history of botanical science 

 has repeatedly marked a period of approximately fifty years, 

 within which a new thought or principle has been promulgated, 

 that in the course of this period has materially affected, in some 

 cases substantially altered the course of development of the 

 science. Jussieu's presentation of a "natural" system of 

 classification a hundred years before the publication of the 

 " Origin" De Candolle's morphological conceptions set forth 

 some fifty years later, and especially the brilliant contributions 

 of Hofmeister in the middle of the last century are cases in point. 

 All of these, however epoch-making in their day, appear now as 

 merely groping toward the light that came with the 11 Origin 

 of Species," and there are not wanting indications that much 

 the same history is to be repeated. The year of jubilee may 

 well be kept, but the lack of agreement as to the methods of 

 evolution and its various applications on the part of those who 

 may be assumed to understand it best, shows something of what 

 is left over for the next centennial, or semi-centennial celebration. 



