Reconstruction of Elementary Botanical Teaching. 103 
A report of this type would in the first place help all who are 
interested in the matter to estimate the extent to which the charges 
made in the memorandum against those responsible for elementary 
botanical teaching are really justifiable; at present it is difficult to 
do this. 
In the second place it would reveal the facilities, or lack 
thereof, actually existing for the carrying out of any particular 
type of curriculum at each of the institutions in question. 
It would also be of great service to botanists as a whole when 
action is taken to influence public opinion or government depart¬ 
ments with a view to securing grants, concessions, etc. To 
individual departments it would be of some assistance when 
negotiating with local College or University authorities. 
For these reasons among others I am inclined to think that 
the preparation and publication of such a report before taking 
other action, would be preferable to attempting to frame a standard 
elementary curriculum and subsequently submitting it to botanical 
departments in general for their acceptance, or otherwise. 
There is another point on which I should like to express an 
opinion, viz., that while the suggested reconstruction of elementary 
curricula where thought necessary might render considerable 
assistance, yet by itself this is not likely to effect the results 
aimed at by the writers of the memorandum. To achieve such 
ends, to link up the schools with outlets on practical life, etc., it 
is essential that not only the botanists but the University science 
teachers as a whole should co-operate. 
It is useless to shut one’s eyes to the unfortunate existence in 
the past of inter-departmental jealousies, and without proper 
co-ordination at each institution some very serious difficulties 
might arise. 
But further than this, if in the case of botany the students 
trained are to have a reasonable chance of passing into some 
sphere of work in which their training will be of direct value, there 
must also be some form of co-operation between botanists and 
workers in various related branches of science, especially on the 
applied side. This co-operation should extend to employers, for 
upon them largely depends the demand for trained people. In 
short it would seem that the writers of the memorandum have 
made out a case for the uniting of scientific workers of almost 
all kinds, and indeed it is more than probable that only by this 
means can a sufficiently powerful driving force be provided by 
