Arebnian-,J'i9i3n" }      N  ext  StePs  in  Botanical  Science.  73 
learning — the  colleges  and  universities — where  botany  holds  a  place 
as  one  of  the  sciences,  let  us  ask  what  we  may  look  for  in  regard 
to  its  development.  In  every  proper  college  the  department  of 
botany  exists  primarily  for  its  teaching  function,  and  this  is  true 
also  for  nearly  every  university.  And  while  we  may  hope  to  make 
every  such  department  a  centre  of  investigation  also,  it  is  true 
now,  and  it  must  always  be  true  that  in  our  educational  institutions 
the  teaching  of  the  science  must  be  the  primary  object  of  every  one 
of  its  scientific  departments.  So  the  future  will  call  for  much  more 
of  definiteness  as  to  the  content  and  sequence  of  the  science,  as 
well  as  the  manner  of  its  presentation ;  its  pedagogics,  if  you  please. 
The  college  and  university  departments  of  botany  in  the  near 
future  will  arrive  at  a  clearer  notion  as  to  the  essentials  of  the 
science  as  a  subject  of  study.  It  seems  to  one  who  carefully  looks 
over  the  field  that  there  is  often  only  the  most  vague  notion  of 
the  relative  importance  of  the  known  facts  in  regard  to  plants, 
those  of  trivial  importance  receiving  as  much  weight,  perhaps,  as 
those  of  profound  significance.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  more 
elementary  courses,  in  which'  there  is  also  the  greatest  diversity 
in  the  presentation  of  the  subject  matter.  This  condition  argues 
incompleteness  of  knowledge  either  as  to  the  science  as  a  whole, 
or  as  to  its  pedagogics.  Wc  have  all  heard  the  excusatory  remark 
that  "  it  makes  little  difference  how  or  where  we  begin  the  study 
of  plants,  and  in  what  sequence  we  pursue  it."  Yet  none  of  us 
would  admit  such  a  contention  in  regard  to  any  other  matter.  The 
more  we  know  of  a  country,  the  more  definite  are  our  ideas  as 
to  what  are  its  more  important  mountains,  rivers,  cities  and  in- 
stitutions, and  it  is  these  that  we  feel  the  traveler  should  see.  We 
particularize  when  we  know ;  we  generalize,  and  are  vague,  when 
we  do  not.  It  should  not  be  long  until  this  vagueness  and  doubt- 
fulness as  to  substance  and  manner  in  the  presentation  of  botany 
in  the  high  school,  and  in  the  college,  and  in  the  university,  will 
be  a  thing  of  the  past.  In  the  near  future  we  shall  certainly  have 
the  lower  work  clearly  defined,  as  it  is  in  mathematics  and  language, 
and  on  this  the  higher  work  will  be  based,  to  the  great  saving  of 
the  time  and  energy  of  teacher  and  student,  now  needlessly  wasted. 
And  I  appeal  to  you,  botanists,  to  take  up  seriously  the  task  of  so 
arranging  and  co-ordinating  our  work  that  botany  shall  no  longer 
suffer  the  reproach  of  being  the  most  chaotic  of  the  primary  sciences. 
Do  not  tell  me  that  we  can  not  agree.    We  must  agree.    If  we 
