The British Association at Newcastle. 257 
Miss Prankerd gave two papers on special aspects of her 
extensive statolith investigations. The first entitled “On the move¬ 
ments executed by young fern fronds,” with special reference to 
geotropism, established the possession by ferns of statenchyma 
and the correlation between its presence or absence and the posses¬ 
sion or loss of geotropic irritability. The second gave an account 
of the distribution in time and space of statolith starch in the 
branches of trees. 
Dr. Willis made a contribution bearing on his well-known 
hypothesis of correlation between age and distribution of species, 
and Mr. Small presented an account of the distribution of the 
Composites. 
Professor Bower gave a very full exposition on Leaf Architec¬ 
ture, tracing the evolution of the vascular system of leaves 
throughout the Ferns. 
It is not the custom for the Presidential Address to bear any 
title but, had it been otherwise, Dr. Rendle’s discourse might well 
have been termed Botany in the service of Man, Botany and its 
Applications, etc., and indeed, the President summed up the scope 
and intention of his address in the concluding paragraph, “ Botany 
is the alma mater of the applied sciences of agriculture, horticul¬ 
ture, forestry, etc., but the alma mater who is to receive the due 
affection and respect of her offspring must realise and live up to 
her responsibilities.” 
He dwelt upon the desirability, nay the necessity, for co¬ 
operation between the scientific worker and the practical man, 
which should differ radically from the well-meant efforts in the 
London County Council lecture halls of thirty years ago, when a 
young man, fresh from the University, shouted ineffectually across 
the inevitable gulf which separated his view point from that of the 
practical man in his audience. It should be a natural thing for the 
students of the schools to work also at the applied institutions of 
Horticulture, Agriculture, etc., and as an introduction to this inter¬ 
change it might be well if advanced students of Botany spent their 
long vacations in a nursery or other practical centre. 
Workers thus trained in the science and art of their subject 
would find the fields ripe for the harvest of their discoveries in 
connection with plant disease, plant breeding, medicinal plant rear¬ 
ing, utilization of waste land, etc. 
Dr. Rendle spoke also of the desirability of closer cooperation 
between investigators themselves, to obviate wasteful overlapping 
and hurried publication. In particular he dwelt upon the neces¬ 
sity for the development of the wealth of material of economic 
value, contained in our tropical possessions. “ If we are to make 
the best use of our resources, botanical research stations in 
different parts of the empire, adequately equipped and under the 
charge of a capable trained botanist, are a prime necessity. We 
seem to have been singularly unfortunate, not to say stupid, in the 
management of some of our tropical stations and botanical estab¬ 
lishments.” 
Some of the practical problems referred to in the presidential 
address formed the bases of organized discussions and papers 
during the course of the meeting. As the result of the contributions 
