HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 
58 
which is very convenient for general classification. Mrs. 
Drude has herself made some studies in botany, and many 
of the beautiful drawings in her husband’s book were made 
by her. The collection in the museum is excellent, though 
the room is small. . . . 
“His idea of having some of the plant’s constituents ex¬ 
hibited with the plant was a particularly good one. The plan 
of the garden is given in the little guide which the author 
presented. But he will have in his new garden a slightly dif¬ 
ferent arrangement. He had in front of his palm trees a small 
plot of ground with one bed given to each country of the 
world’s flora. A little rise in the garden was called by Drude 
the Alps. We had much amusement clambering up the little 
wandering path. His rooms and library at the Polytechnic 
were full of interest. The library is particularly fine. 
“The books are arranged according to the botany of each 
country. The collection seemed very complete and con¬ 
tained many rare and costly works. There is a set of plates, 
painted by hand, of all flowers. Two former kings of Saxony 
were great lovers of botany, and one had ordered this book 
to be made. Each painting is absolutely perfect of the flowers, 
and on the margins are paintings of the different flower 
parts. The books number ten volumes and were lined within 
the binding with pink satin. As the work is in manuscript, 
it has no other title than 4 Plantae Selectae. Centurin.’ Most 
of the students in the Polytechnic are interested in botany only 
for its practical side, but those who wish to carry on investi¬ 
gations have the right to the libraries. The herbarium was 
not new, and under Drude’s orders is undergoing renovation. 
The laboratory was small but fitted with all essential apparatus. 
An apparatus for measuring and recording the hourly growth 
of a plant was very delicate. The tracings of one plant showed 
that the greatest growth occurred during the night, especially 
between 2 and 4 a. m. The plant at night probably absorbs 
for its growth what it makes during the day. Outside of a 
window a glass case was built with opening doors for water- 
culture experiments. . . . 
“Drude was simply lovely. He talked with me about my 
