AYehf™vjTw™'}     Next  Steps  in  Botanical  Science.  67 
have  come  to  be  what  they  are — is  allowed  to  fret  out  its  life  by 
beating  vainly  against  the  technical  bars  of  its  Mendelian  cage.  I 
know  of  no  better  illustration  of  the  unorganized  condition  of 
botanical  science  than  this  failure  of  the  systematic  botanists  and 
the  plant  breeders  to  work  together  for  a  common  end. 
THE  BOTANY  OF  TO-MORROW. 
But  I  have  dwelt  enough  upon  the  past  and  pie.ent,  and  I 
feel  inclined  to  apologize  to  you  for  having  turned  your  faces  so 
long  backward.  For  while  we  must  consider  what  has  been,  we 
can  make  progress  only  by  planning  for  what  is  to  be.  So  let  us 
turn  now  to  the  future  of  botanical  science,  and  endeavor  to  trace 
its  more  profitable  course  of  development  during  the  next  one  or 
two  decades.  What  are  seemingly  to  be  the  demands  of  modern 
society  upon  this  science?  What  are  to  be  some  of  the  next  steps 
in  its  evolution?  For  whatever  we  may  say  in  regard  to  the 
independence  of  science  we  can  not  escape  the  fact  that  it  must 
serve  its  "  day  and  generation."  No  science  can  hope  for  support 
or  recognition  that  does  not  respond  to  the  demands  of  its  age. 
And  yet  we  must  not  ignore  the  labors  of  those  pioneers  in  every 
science  who  foresee  possibilities  that  are  hidden  from  the  mass  of 
men.  There  must  always  be  place  provided  for  the  few  seers  who 
see  to-day  what  is  now  hidden  from  mankind  in  general,  and  may 
continue  to  be  so  hidden  for  generations,  or  centuries.  All  honor 
to  these  prophets  who  prepare  the  way  for  the  oncoming  of  scientific 
truth,  but  it  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  it  is  only  when  such  truth 
has  permeated  contemporary  society  that  science  thrives. 
Its  Content. — Looking  forward,  then,  let  us  try  to  see  the  trend 
of  that  branch  of  science  which  deals  with  plants,  the  science  which 
I  have  the  honor  of  representing  on  this  platform  this  evening. 
And  my  first  inquiry  may  well  concern  itself  with  the  content  of 
botanical  science  in  the  immediate  future.  As  we  become  better 
acquainted  with  it  and  recognize  more  clearly  its  relations  to  the 
activities  of  the  community  we  shall  be  able  to  define  its  proper 
content  with  more  accuracy.  And  let  no  man  attempt  to  belittle 
the  importance  of  such  an  undertaking.  It  is  not  useless  to  attempt 
to  fix  the  boundaries  of  any  field  of  human  endeavor,  especially 
in  such  a  one  as  this  which  deals  with  so  vast  a  number  of  in- 
dividual objects,  each  having  many  possible  relations  to  one  another 
and  to  ourselves.   I  am  well  aware  of  the  impossibility  of  absolutely 
