PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN
A Publication of the Botanical Society of America, Inc.
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1, JANUARY, 1958
HARRY J. FULLER, Editor, 203 Nat. Hist. Bldg., University of Illinois, Urbana.
Illinois
EDITORIAL BOARD
George S. Avery - Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Harlan P. Banks - Cornell University
Harriet Creighton - Wellesley College
Sydney S. Greenfield - Rutgers University
Paul B. Sears - Yale University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Suggested Outline for Teaching Systematic Botany
Summary of Minutes of Botanical Society Council Meeting
Minutes of Botanical Society Business Meeting
IXth International Botanical Congress
1957 MERIT CITATIONS
BIOLOGY AT WISCONSIN
FUTURE MEETING OF AIBS
ANDRE DREYFUS FOUNDATION
LALOR FOUNDATION AWARDS FOR SUMMER 1958
PERSONAL
DARBAKER PRIZE IN PHYCOLOGY FOR 1958
REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS
NOTE ON 9th INTERNATIONAL BOTANICAL CONGRESS
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
GEORGE COOLEY AWARDS
EDITORIAL
FINANCIAL NOTE
THE LYNN INDEX
PERGAMON INSTITUTE
Suggested Outline for Teaching Systematic Botany
Panel on Systematic Botany Courses of the Committee on Educational Policies,
Division of Biology and Agriculture, National Academy of Science8-"-National
Research Council*
[Introductory Note: One unending tlUik confronting biologists concerned with
teaching is to find effective ways of helping to keep instruction in pace with
scientific advances and changing educational needs. Although various familiar
methods for accomplishing this are in use, there seems to be a need for greater
effort. Like other groups and individuals, the Committee on Educational Policies
hlUi therefore looked for other approaches to the problem and has suggested
several. One proposal is to organize ad hoc panels to examine the evolving content
of a given field and to offer ideas about course organization, presenting them
to stimulate teachers to reconsider their present practices.
A carefully chosen panel of competent working scientists could bring a larger
fund of knowledge and ideas to bear upon the problem than any single individual
may possess, and the interplay of their knowledge and ideas could lead to suggestions
for courses that could give new emphasis to basic principles, could place the
field in a fresh light, could build upon accumulated knowledge and experience
without letting tradition dominate teaching unduly. (See Behnke, J. A., 1957.
Toward improvement of advanced under-graduate biology courses. Plant Science
Bulletin 3 (2): 8, April.) Aided by a grant from the National Science Foundation,
the Committee, to test the idea, sponsored two such panels during the past year.
The panel approach has merit, the Committee suggests, if a panel's report encourages
continuing reevaluation and experimentation in teaching by individual faculty
members, authors of textbooks and manuals, and college departments. If the approach
demonstrates its value, similar ad hoc panels could be organized on a formal
or informal basis by any group interested in a specific biological area.
The report of one experimental panel is presented here. The Committee takes
great pleasure in expressing appreciation to the Panel on Systematic Botany
Courses for their thoughtful and imaginative effort. We also want to emphasize
what their report illustrates: that the key objective of this tactic is not
to prescribe anything to anybody, but to help biologists focus upon teaching
the kind of constructively critical thinking they focus upon bio- logical investigations,
both as individuals and in symposia and conferences. - Howard M. Phillips, Chairman,
Committee on Educational Policies.]
We have given prime consideration, in attempting to construct an outline for
a course in Systematic Botany, to the statement in our instructions that "the
objective is not to replace one orthodoxy by another but rather to stimulate
continuing reevaluation and experimentation in teaching practice." We have
also taken seriously the advice that our charge was to " 'throw the subject
out the window' and start over."
When we pooled outlines of courses now being given, we concluded that our common
agreements represented little more than pious platitudes. The teaching of Systematic
or Taxonomic Botany differs widely from institution to institution. It is usually
taught as a course in local flora, or as the classification of vascular or flowering
plants. It may be distributed in one or several courses through fall, winter,
spring, or summer, on the basis of quarters, semesters, or a whole year. Instruction
may be by lecture, laboratory, or field work, or by any combination of these.
In short, the particular instructional vehicle for Plant Taxonomy depends greatly
upon local conditions and facilities, the particular curricular environment,
and the interest and training of the instructor. Although we imagine that the
scope of many such courses could be broadened with profit, we do not think any
model would be appropriate for all situations.
We have tried, therefore, to divorce the subject of Plant Taxonomy from the
detailed survey and classification of any particular group of plants (or other
organisms) as an end in itself. Instead, we have endeavored to abstract those
principles that should, in our opinion, be common to all teaching in Plant Taxonomy,
the better to emphasize to both taxonomists and other biologists the fundamental
nature of the subject.
None of us has attempted to give a course like that outlined below. As we have
worked on it, we have come to think it might be possible and desirable to develop
one. However, whether or not such a course is ever actually taught, we hope
our essay will stimulate discussion, some re-thinking, and the ultimate improvement
of the stereotyped taxonomy courses that now are all too prevalent. If such
a stimulatory influence is realized, we shall feel that our efforts are well
repaid.
Principles of Systematic Botany (Plant Taxonomy)
We believe that the basis of Plant Taxonomy may be expressed in the form of
the following three principles, the first two being biological, the third operational:
I. The diversity of phenotypes present is one of the obvious features of the
plant world, and is an expression of the fundamental and underlying genetic
diversity.
a. By phenotype we mean the whole range and variety of qualitative and quantitative
aspects of structure and function of the individual plant, e.g., morphology,
mode of reproduction,
PAGE TWO
chromosmal behavior, habitat specificity, parasite-host relationships, developmental
processes, etc. Thus, we understand the phenotype to be the full embodiment
of interaction of genotype with environment.
b. Diversity is most evident in the presence of gross discontinuities when one
examines the whole plant kingdom, but one must recognize also the less obvious
diversification that exists among the individuals of a natural population of
a given species. Thus, the diversity one finds is a matter of degree, extending
all the way from genetic identity (as in clonal individuals) to the extreme
diversification that might be exemplified by a unicellular alga, on the one
hand, and a complex seed plant, on the other.
c. The similarities of plants existing at any one time-level make them appear
to form aggregations separated by gaps of varying magnitude.
II. The patterns resulting from this diversity are the product of evolution
and hence deserve a phylogenetic interpretation.
a. Evolution, or descent with change, is the sum of processes that result from
interaction between genetically diversified plants and the multiplicity of available
environments.
b. All living individuals and groups have had their origin in preexisting individuals
and groups, to which they are tied by direct descent.
c. One of the characteristic features of evolutionary lineages is that they
have been diverging continuously through time.
d. Phylogeny involves the study of ancestry and divergence, and is hence the
history of genetic relationships.
e. Phenotypic similarity, in the absence of known genealogies, is our best guide
to relationship.
III. The present patterns of similarities and differences may be classified
in such a way that the arrangement reflects evolutionary sequence.
a. A classification should synthesize and systematize for general use all pertinent
biological data of a comparative nature.
b. It is possible by comparative procedures to determine degrees of relationship
that permit delimitation of natural groups of organisms.
c. Any classification is tentative and. like any other hypothesis in science,
subject to continuous reevaluation in the light of new evidence. Thus, any grouping
which is subsequently demonstrated to contain discordant elements demands revision.
d. Groupings of organisms are made on the basis of similarities; differences
between them - that is, discontinuities in the total applicable pattern of variation-permit
their separation.
e. Genetic discontinuities may be inferred or measured by the study of genetical
or cyto-genetical behavior and geographical distribution, as well as by other
modes of comparison.
f. An internationally accepted hierarchical system of categories has been developed
to express formally the observed patterns of biological variation. Categories
of any given rank must be recognized as being arbitrary units of expression,
and are not necessarily equivalent as applied to different groups of organisms.
Once the biological aggregations have been assigned to categories, the resulting
taxa may be arranged to express phylogeny on the basis of evolutionary specializations
or modifications.
g. The universal acceptance of a uniform code of nomenclature is necessary for
precision and ease of intercommunication.
Objectives of a Course in Systematic Botany (Plant Taxonomy)
From the course outlined below, we hope the student would derive the following:
1. An understanding and appreciation of the three principles outlined above,
upon which taxonomy is based.
2. A broad and thorough acquaintance (in field, garden, and laboratory) with
examples from the plant world that serve to illustrate these principles, on
the basis of careful selection rather than encyclopedic coverage. Instructors
should select illustrative materials from those groups about which they possess
special knowledge or in which they have special interest.
3. An interest in and appreciation of living plants as they occur in nature
or in cultivation.
PAGE THREE
4. A knowledge of the methodology of identification and procedural techniques,
and of the organized and available sources of information and documentation.
5. An appreciation of synoptic thinking in science, that is, the evaluation
and integration of a multiplicity of data in order to produce sound generalizations.
6. An understanding of the relationship of taxonomy to other branches of biology
and to human affairs.
Course Outline
The following outline should be recognized as only a very rough framework, upon
which each instructor is expected to build from his own experience and interests.
At various points, we have inserted examples that have occurred to us; doubtless
many better ones will occur to the reader.
1. Introduction to diversity, emphasizing the existence of large discontinuities
and groupings on the basis of similarities and evolutionary trends. (Any appropriate
plants conveniently at hand may be used as examples, preferably to be studied
out-of-doors. Such methodology as the construction and use of keys might profitably
be introduced at this point.)
2. Detailed study of diversity as shown by evolutionary trends in different
structures and processes, such as elaboration series, reduction series, etc.
(Possible examples: (a) Organization and specialization of gametophyte or sporophyte;
development and specialization of vascular tissue; development of reproductive
organs; comparative morphology of photosynthetic structures; elaboration of
the leaf, flower, or fruit; specialization of sori in ferns; body-type tendencies
in algae. (b) Other graded trends in phenotypic expression that are not wholly
or primarily morphological, such as parasitism; ecological specializations in
aquatic or desert plants; dispersal and pollination mechanisms, as in Asclepiadaceae
and Orchidaceae; genome series.) Thus, no major plant group would be studied
in all its details, but suitable illustrative evolutionary specializations would
be selected from appropriate plant groups.
3. Organization of diversity.
a. Hierarchy of categories.
b. Application of categories:
(1) to a major group, stressing the kinds of differences that occur between
taxa; (2) to a particular group in which differences may be studied at the specific
and intraspecific levels. There should be free selection of materials, such
as mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, or a particular genus from any plant group.
c. Introduction to the use of nomenclature - a topic which should be kept strictly
within bounds!
d. Introduction to the literature of Systematic Botany (systematic anatomy,
morphology, cytology, important bibliographies, illustrations, manuals, floras,
monographs).
4. Biological basis of diversity and taxonomy, the mechanisms underlying evolution.
a. Mutation and recombination - genes and chromosomal changes.
b. Variation in populations (introducing graphic means of expressing the differences,
e.g., scatter diagrams, etc.).
c. Restrictions to free gene-interchange and the developing of isolating mechanisms
(spatial and ecological; genetic).
d. Natural selection.
e. Speciation, through divergence.
f. Hybridization and reticulate evolution (introgression, polyploidy).
g. Breeding systems and variation patterns (out-
crossing systems, inbreeding systems, apomixes and vegetable reproduction).
5. Phylogeny of a particular group of plants and the methods of determining
it.
a. Study of individual trends.
b. Correlation of characters (use of correlating methods, phylogenetic charts).
c. Identification of conservative members and conditions.
d. Experimental approaches (e.g., artificial synthesis, transplantation, breeding
programs, etc.).
e. Prediction of discoverable taxa.
f. Phytogeographical considerations.
(Possible examples of well-documented studies of some aspects of the phylogeny
of a particular group of plants might include: algal groups, ferns, cycads,
Magnoliales)
6. Taxonomy in relation to other biological fields.
a. Naming and initial organization, to make possible accurate identification
and reference.
b. Expressing the genetic relationship of plants through assigning them to categories.
c. Documenting research in taxonomy and in other fields by identification and
preservation of materials (voucher specimens, herbaria, type specimens).
d. Synthesizing all botanical knowledge around the central theme of evolution
(phylogeny).
7. Taxonomy in relation to human affairs.
An appreciation of the plant world and its importance in the human environment.
(In addition to a possible short series of lectures and demonstrations on this
topic, we suggest that attention be given throughout the course to the selection
of examples of agricultural plants, drug plants, history and development of
economic plants, forestry and conservation, etc.).
8. Historical development of taxonomic thought, as a phase of history of science
and intellectual history.
* Lincoln Constance, University of California at Berkeley, Chairman; Harlan
Lewis, University of California at Los Angeles; Reed C. Rollins, Harvard University;
Robert F. Thorne, State University of Iowa; Warren H. Wagner, Jr., University
of Michigan.
PAGE FOUR
Summary of Minutes of Botanical Society Council Meetings
Stanford University, August 1957
Meeting called to order by Pres. Avery, 1 p.m., Aug. 25. . . Sec. Bold presented
results of balloting for officers. Council instructed him to present names of
nominees and their votes at business meeting for action by the membership. Sec.
Bold presented his report, mentioning the new edition of the Yearbook (Misc.
Publ. 140), the increasing number of inquiries about vocational and professional
opportunities in plant sciences, the removal of his records to U. of Texas.
Report accepted. Treas. Fuller presented an interim financial re- port, which
indicated a cash balance of $5,363.53 on Aug. 20, 1957; he estimated a balance
of $3,163.00 at end of fiscal year (Nov. 30, 1957). Report accepted. Treas.
presented also a proposed budget for 1958, with estimated expenditures totaling
$15,452.00 Budget ac- cepted. Treas. gave a report on membership: total membership
as of Aug. 20, 1957-2,004 (1665 regular members, 271 grad. student members,
24 family memberships, 31 corresponding members; 13 life members). Retired members-42,
delinquent members-l02. . . . Bus. Mgr. Canright of Amer. Jour. Bot. presented
his report, which was accepted by the Council. . . . Retiring editor, Steere
of AJB presented his annual report on the operations of AJB, stated that the
McGraw-Hill Book Co. will publish in the winter of 1957-58 a volume containing
the 40 invitation papers published in the Golden Jubilee volume (vol. 43) and
in some numbers of vol. 44 of AJB. He reported favorable reaction of numerous
members to the occasional publication of general papers of similar type in future
volumes of AJB. He reported also that H. J. Fuller would become editor of AJB
on Sept. 1, 1957. . . . Editor Fuller of Pl. Sci. Bull. reported on 1957 activities
of that organ. He suggested that wider geographical distribution of news coverage
would improve PSB, suggested that regional correspondents be appointed. Council
approved publication of PSB on bimonthly basis during 1958, in view of many
requests for more frequent publication. . . . Sec. Bold presented report of
Director Harlan Banks and his staff for their excellent organization and administration
of the 1957 institute. Sec. was instructed to explore possible sites for an
NSF Summer Institute in Botany for 1959 and to act for the Society in this matter.
. . . Sydney Greenfield presented brief report of Committee' on Education for
Chairman Victor Greulach. . . . Brief report of Com. on Membership was presented.
Com. believes that graduate students continue to represent an important source
of new members. . . . Chairman Papenfuss of Darbaker A wards Committee reported
that the committee was making no award in 1957. . . . Chairman Creighton of
Com. on Corresponding Members reported committee's desire to nominate the following
for corresponding membership: Isabel Cookson (Univ. of Melbourne); Lothar Geitler
(Univ. of Vienna); Rene Soueges (Paris); Walter Zimmerman (Univ. of Tiibingen).
Council approved these nominations. Chairman Boke of Committee on Merit Awards
recommended the following for Certificates of Merit: Barbara McClintock (Carnegie
Institute of Washington), Donald F. Jones (Univ. of Conn, and Conn. Agr. Exp.
Sta.), Paul Mangelsdorf (Harvard), and William H. Weston (Harvard). (NOTE: the
complete citations for these 4 botanists are published elsewhere in this number).
The committee was thanked and discharged; a new committee is to be appointed.
. . . Committee on National Herbarium made no report and was dissolved , . .
. Committee on Use of Botanists in National Emergency had nothing significant
to report, was dissolved. . . . A report was received from R. E. Cle- land,
Bot. Soc. representative to Governing Board of AIBS. . . . A brief report was
read from P. B. Sears, representative to Council of AAAS. . . . E. L. Little,
Jr., representative to Chem.- Biol. Coordination Center sent a written report
indicating discontinuance of the Center on July 1, 1957. . . . Status of Bot.
Soc. Guidance Booklet was reviewed. Pres. Avery was asked to revise the booklet
and to present it to Executive Committee of Council, which is to explore ways
of financing its publication. . . . Requirements for retired membership were
discussed. Sec. was instructed to circulate a proposed amendment to the By-laws
to replace Art. II, l-e: All members of the Society who have held membership
in the society for 25 years and who have retired from their positions may apply
for Retired Membership in the Society by writing the secretary. Retired members
shall continue to receive the publications of the Society without further payment
of dues". . . . Council made the following appointments: Representative
to Div: of Biology and Agric., NRC, for a 3-yr. term - David Goddard; Representative
to Council of AIBS 1957-1960 - Oswald Tippo; to Board of Governors of AIBS -
Ralph Cleland. . . . Sec. was instructed to offer Society's good offices to
Dept. of State in screening foreign botanists who might be seeking admission
to the U.S. at time of 9th International Bot. Congress in 1959. . . . Sec. was
instructed to quote a fee of $ 25 to those requesting a run of the Society's
addressograph plates. The Sec. is to arrange for Treas. to pay AIBS for this
service and to deposit the balance to the society's credit. Sec. is authorized
to sell Yearbook at $5 per copy. . . . Council ruled that the Society should
not officially support the candidacy of any person for an honorary degree. .
. . Council heard a proposal to make the Society's fiscal year coincide with
the calendar year, but took no action. . . . Secretary was instructed to determine
the cost of microfilming the Society's records and to report it to the Council.
. . . In view of a re- quest transmitted to the Society by Dr. Cleland in 1956
that it increase its annual contribution to AIBS, Sec. was instructed to find
out the amounts contributed by other plant science societies to AIBS and to
Biological Abstracts and to report this information to the Council at the 1958
meeting. . . , Discussion revealed that a special registration fee of $3 (instead
of $5) is available to graduate students who register for AIBS meetings in advance.
. . . Sec. was instructed to determine sentiment of members regarding meetings
of Bot. Soc. in 1959, year of the 9th Int. Bot. Congress. . . . Sec. reported
results of his poll of members concerning abstracts. Majority of about 1,000
members responding indicated that they would like abstracts of papers presented
at meetings published in advance of meetings and that they would be willing
to pay increased dues for such abstracts. Council decided to devote further
study to the matter of abstracts. . . . Chairman Creighton of Com. on 9th Internat.
Bot. Congress reported no activity of that committee, stating that Canadian
botanists are assuming complete responsibility, although they may delegate some
items to some American botanists.
Minutes of Botanical Society Business Meeting
Stanford University, August 26 and 27, 1957
Meeting called to order by Pres. Avery at I :05 p.m. in Cubberly Hall. . . .
Sec. Bold presented results of second nominating ballot, showing top candidates
based on ballots from about 1200 members. Sec. was instructed to cast a ballot
for those receiving highest num- ber of votes. Officers for 1958 are therefore:
Pres.- F. W. Went; Vice-Pres.-H. J. Fuller; Treas.- A. J. Sharp; Member of Editorial
Board-Ralph Wetmore. Sec. Bold continues in his office until 1959. . . . Sec.
reported on results of poll of members on abstracts, showing that majority of
members favor publication of abstracts before annual meeting. No action taken;
further study will be made of this question. . . . Retired Editor W. C. Steere
of Amer. Jour. Bot. presented his report, announced that H. J. Fuller would
succeed him on Sept. 1, 1957. Membership voted to accept Dr. Steere's report
and to express its appreciation of his services. . . . Editor Fuller of Pl.
Sci. Bull. presented a brief report, announcing that that journal would appear
on a bimonthly schedule in 1958 . . . Adriance Foster, speaking for Harlan Banks,
reported on the 1957 Summer Institute of Botany held at Cornell, stated that
Sec. Bold had been authorized to begin study of plans for a similar institute
in 1959. . . . Treas. Fuller presented an interim report, the budget for 1958,
and a report on membership. Reports accepted. . . . Bus. Mgr. Canright of Amer.
Jour. Bot. presented an interim report of financial aspects of AJB. Report accepted.
. . . Chairman Creighton reported for Com. on Corresponding Members, which recommended
election of Isabel Cookson, Lothar Geiter, Rene Soueges, and Walter Zimmerman.
Membership voted to approve election of these 4 botanists. . . . Reports were
made by Ralph Cleland, Bot. Soc. representative to Governing Board of AIBS.
Elbert Little Jr., Bot. Soc. representative to Chem.-Biol. Coordination Center.
. . At banquet, held at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. at Rickey's Studio Inn, the names of
recipients of 1957 Certificates of Merit were announced; these persons are Barbara
McClintock, Donald F. Jones, Paul Manglesdorf, and William H. Weston.
PAGE FIVE
IXth International Botanical Congress
(These notes are addressed to members of a special U.S. advisory committee
and to secretaries of botanical societies of N. Amer. in order to bring them
up to date on progress of organization).
1. IXth International Botanical Congress will be held in Montreal Aug. 19-29,
1959.
2. Officers of the Congress are: President-W. P. Thompson (U. of Sask.); 1 st
vice-pres. :-Pierre Dan- sereau (U. of Montreal); 2nd vice-pres. :-K. W. Neatby
(Science Service, Ottawa); 3rd vice-pres. - Muriel V. Roscoe (McGill Univ.);
Sec.-general - Clarence Frankton (Science Service, Ottawa); Associate sec.-general
- R. Pomardeau (Science Service, Ottawa); Treas.- A. J. Skolko (Science Service.
Ottawa); Secretary-mgr. - H. L. Berlyn (Science Service. Ottawa); Officer for
liaison with U.S. botanists - Pierre Dansereau; Chairman of Program Committee
- H. A. Senn (Science Service, Ottawa); Chairman of Field Trips Com. - Marcel
Raymond (Montreal Bot. Gard.); Chairman of Finance Com. - K. W. Neatby; Chairman
of Local Organization - Muriel Roscoe; Chairman of Publications Com. - D. L.
Bailey (U. of Toronto); Chairman of Publicity Com. - Jean Beaudry (U. of Montreal).
3. On Mar. 23-24, 1956, a meeting was held in N.Y. which brought together representatives
of AIBS, AAAS, Bot. Soc. of America, NSF, NRC, and NAS. All features of the
Congress were discussed and many suggestions made. esp. with reference to U.S.
collaboration in organization of field trips and invitation of foreign botanists
to U.S. campuses before and after congress. NSF made a grant to defray expenses
of this meeting and of a second held Nov. 1957.
4. The Congress is not jointly sponsored by Canadian and U.S. botanists. Many
U.S. botanists, however, have been asked to serve on committees and have agreed
to do so. Responsibility for the Congress rests with Canadian botanists.
5. Numerous subcommittees have been set up (names of chairmen are in parentheses):
1. Nomenclature (J. Rousseau); 2. Taxonomy and expo taxonomy (R. D. Gibbs);
3. Phycology (J. BruneI); 4. Mycology (J. W. Groves); 5. Medical mycology (F.
Blank); 6. Path- ology (W. F. Hanna); 7. Lichenology and Bryology (J. Kucyniak);
8. Microbiology (H. Katznelson); 9. Taxonomy of Pteridophytes and Phanerogams
(M. Raymond); 10. Morphology and anatomy (M. W. Bannan); 11. Paleobotany (N.
W. Radforth); 12. Physiology (G. H. Duff); 13. Phytogeography (P. Dansereau);
14. Cytology and genetics (J. Beaudry); 15. Forest Botany (J. H. Bier); 16.
Agricultural and economic botany (c. Frankton); 17. Ethnobotany and history
(F. Verdoorn). These subcommittees do not necessarily correspond to sections
of the congress. Decisions regarding the sections will be made later.
PAGE SIX
6. No special meetings of societies will be allowed to run concurrently with
Congress sectional meetings or to be jointly sponsored by them. No exception
can be made to this rule in an International Congress. Separate meetings of
societies may be held immediately before and after the congress, but the Congress
administration cannot undertake to organize them.
7. A preliminary announcement, now being prepared, will be sent to some 600
botancial periodicals. 8. All correspondence concerning the congress should
be sent to C. Frankton, Science Service Bldg., Dept. of Agric., Ottawa, Ont.,
Canada.
1957 MERIT CITATIONS
At its Golden Jubilee banquet in August 1956, Bot. Soc. presented Certificates
of Merit to 50 botanists for their distinguished contributions to our science.
At that time, Bot. Soc. announced its plan to present such certificates to additional
botanists in succeeding years. Those botanists who received Certificates of
Merit at Bot. Soc's. 1957 banquet and their citations are the following:
BARBARA McCLINTOCK, early student of radiation- induced chromosomal
aberrations, pioneer in the use of such aberrations for purposes of genome analysis,
important contributor to the theory of gene structure, world leader in the broad
field of cytogenetics.
DONALD FORSHA JONES, through many years an outstanding geneticist,
plant breeder and horticulturalist, a profound and versatile student of a wide
range of hereditary phenomena, especially known for his contributions to an
understanding of hybrid vigor, and for his pioneer role in the development of
hybrid corn.
PAUL CHRISTOPH MANGELSDORF, leading investigator in the fields
of agronomy, genetics and economic botany, foremost authority on the history
and evolution of maize, for his contribution to the classification, morphology
and genetics of corn, and for his role in the development of maize breeding
programs through- out the Americas.
WILLIAM HENRY WESTON, master of the spoken and written word,
for his contributions to the lower fungi, which are models of perfection in
execution and writing and particularly for his unselfish devotion to his students
and his superlative ability as a graduate teacher.
BIOLOGY AT WISCONSIN
Botany and zoology at U. of Wisc. are expanding their quarters for the first
time since 19 I 2. They have moved into a new addition to Birge Hall. The extra
space provided by this new wing doubles the space available to these departments.
FUTURE MEETING OF AIBS
R. E. Cleland, Bot. Soc. representative to Governing Board of AIBS, reported
at Bot. Soc. Council meeting at Stanford that the next 4 AIBS meetings will
be held in these places: 1958-Indiana Univ., Bloomington, Indiana; 1959-Pennsylvania
State Univ., University Park, Pa.; 1960 -Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, Okla.;
1961 - Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. The 1958 meeting will be held
Aug. 24-28; dates for other meetings will be announced later.
ANDRE DREYFUS FOUNDATION
Board of Directors of the Andre Dreyfus Foundation invites geneticists to register
as applicants for its International Genetics Prize for 1958, valued at 150,000
cruzeiros ($1500). The prize is available to individuals or groups from any
country working in genetics or related fields. The prize is intended for the
development of research programs, research travel, and publication of research
results. Applications should be ac- companied by the candidate's curriculum
vitae, list of publications, detailed plan of proposed research program or a
copy of the ms. for publication. In case of equality of qualifications, preference
will be given to the project which may have more direct influence on the development
of genetics research in Brazil. Applications and supporting documents should
be received by Secretary General of the Foundation not later than Jan. 31, 1958.
(Jenny Dreyfus, Secreta ria Geral da Fundacao-Premio Andre Dreyfus, Rua Belfort
Roxo 40, apto. 502, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
LALOR FOUNDATION AWARDS FOR SUMMER 1958
The Labor Foundation will offer 40 awards to college and univ. faculty members
for biological research in summer 1958. The awards are primarily for research
involving chemistry and physics in attacking biological problems. Upper age
limit for applicants is 40. Awards will be approx. $900 for a single person,
$1.100 for a married man at his home institution, and $1.250 for a married man
working at another institution. In recent years, the foundation has maintained
a number of post- doctorate fellowships at Marine BioI. Lab., Woods Hole, Mass.;
these have been consolidated into the present program, and scientists wishing
to work at Woods Hole should submit applications under the new program. Inquiries
should be addressed to Lalor Foundation, 4400 Lancaster Pike, Wilmington 5,
Del. Final date for receipt of applications is Jan. 14, 1958. Notification of
appointments will be made about March 15, 1958.
Among recipients of Lalor awards in 1957 were: Charlotte Ayers, Univ. of Miami;
Norman Bishop, Univ. of Chicago; Theodore Cayle, Washington Univ.; Gordon Christiansen,
Connecticut College; Robert Le- vine, Harvard Univ.; Karl Maramorosch, Rockefeller
Inst. for Med. Research; Raymond Wolfe, Univ. of Oregon; Marko Zalokar, Yale.
PAGE SEVEN
PERSONAL
Harold St. John, first Wilder Prof. of Botany at Univ. of
Hawaii, has been elected an Honorary Member of the Botanical Society of Japan.
according to Dr. S. Hattori, president of the society. Election
was made at the Diamond Jubilee of the society in Tokyo. Oct. 1957. . . .
Ernest Artschwager, Senior Botanist, USDA Field Station, Las
Cruces, N. Mex., died on June 21, 1957, at his home. He was an outstanding contributor
to knowledge of anatomy, morphology, and taxonomy of sugar cane and sugar beet.
He was engaged for many years in preparing detailed descriptions of the hundreds
of varieties of sugar cane in various parts of the world; at the time of his
death, this work was at the Govt. printer and will soon appear as a handbook
on the taxonomy of sugar cane varieties. Modern work on morphology and anatomy
of sugar beets is largely his work. . . .
Howard C. Reynolds was recently appointed assistant prof. of
botany and curator of the Elam Bartholomew Herbarium at Fort Hays Kansas State
College He will continue his research on vascularization in leaves of members
of Andropogoneae. Prof. Reynolds submits this profundity from a student exam.
paper: "Determiners of hereditary characteristics are called Taxonomists".
. . .
Frans Verdoorn, managing editor of Chronica Botanica. is director
of new Biohistorical Institute of Univ. of Utrecht, Netherlands. The institute,
to operate in conjunction with the Botanical Museum and Herbarium, will center
activities on cultural, Historical, and other humanistic aspects of pure and
applied biological sciences, chiefly botany. The institute will be housed in
a new building adjacent to Utrecht Hortus Botanicus. Chronica Botanica publications
will be taken over by Ronald Press. Verdoorn will act as consulting editor to
John Behnke of Ronald Press.
DARBAKER PRIZE IN PHYCOLOGY FOR 1958
The Committee on the Darbaker Prize will accept nominations for an award to
be announced at the annual meeting of the Society in 1958. The award is to be
made for meritorious work in the study of algae. Persons not members of Bot.
Soc. are eligible for the award. The Committee will base its judgment primarily
on the papers published by the nominee during the last two calendar years previous
to the closing date for nominations. The award will be limited to residents
of North America. Only papers published in English will be considered. Nominations
for the 1958 award, accompanied by a statement of the merits of the case and
by reprints of the publications supporting the candidacy, should be sent to
the Chairman of the Committee to be received by May1, 1958. The value of the
Prize for 1958 will depend on the income from the trust fund but is expected
to be about $200.00
Harold C. Bold, Univ. of Texas; Robert W. Krauss, Univ. of Maryland; Ruth Patrick,
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; Richard C. Starr, Indiana Univ.;
George F. Papenfuss, Chairman, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, Calif.
REGIONAL CORRESPONDENTS
In order to make more effective the news-gathering facilities of PLANT SCIENCE
BULLETIN, the Editorial Board is setting up a system of Regional Correspondents
who will aid in gathering news items, manuscripts, and other materials of especial
interest to botanists from fellow-botanists in their respective regions. The
March number of PSB will bear a list of all these Regional Correspondents and
the areas for which they will have reportorial responsibility. Members of Bot.
Soc. are urged to communicate with their Regional Correspondents when they have
news to report: promotions, resignations, changes in institutions, deaths of
botanists, fellowship awards, scientific honors, research requests, professional
travel, etc. The success of PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN will depend in large degree
upon the extent to which Bot. Soc. members inform their correspondents of notable
and newsworthy items. Watch the March 1958 number of PSB for the name of your
Regional Correspondent I-Ed.
NOTE ON 9th INTERNATIONAL BOTANICAL CONGRESS
Pierre Dansereau, first vice-pres. and liaison officer with U.S. botanists.
reports, apropos of October, 1957, PSB's note on the Congress, that his institution,
Univ. of Montreal. as well as McGill Univ., will be a center for sessions of
the Congress.
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Univ. of Alabama has recently received 136 acres of government land valued
at $176.000. About 3 miles north from the Univ. campus, the area will be variously
used; 90 acres are to be developed by the biology dept. into an arboretum for
teaching and research. E. Gibbes Patton is director of the arboretum.
GEORGE COOLEY AWARDS
The Cooley Award in taxonomy for the best paper presented at the Stanford meeting
of Amer. Soc. of Plant Taxonomists was divided in 1957 between John
B. Haller, Univ. of Calif. at Santa Barbara, for his paper on "The
relations of Pinus ponderosa and P. jeffreyi" and Kenton
L. Chambers, Yale, for his paper on "Cyto-genetic evidence of
the relationships of Microseris scapigera."
EDITORIAL
It has begun. The launching of two Russian satellites has brought demands from
the editorial writers and magazine scriveners, from the statesmen and politicians,
from military leaders, from scientists and scientific organizations, from other
spokesmen of our society, that we must have more and better education in the
sciences, that we must discover scientific talent in young people at an earlier
age and more assuredly, that we must insure that talented young people of limited
financial resources be granted more scholarships and
PAGE EIGHT
other monetary aids for the support of their sound scientific education. All
to the good, but the problem is far from simple. Better scientific education
requires better, more stimulating, more perspicacious teachers of science. Increasing
the quantity of science education will avail us little if its quality is not
at the same time improved. Thus, better training of science te;1chers at all
levels of our educational system becomes an essential feature of the improvement
of science education. Further, in our desire to improve both the quantity and
quality of science education we must not lose perspective to the extent that
we encourage, or even allow, increased science education to plasmolyze education
in the humanities and in the more respectable and less carminative social studies.
To do so would be to effect the loss of certain great values in education.
One of the real dangers attendant upon the current enthusiasm for expanded
science education is that of confusing science with technology. There is already
evidence in the daily press and in the columns of magazines that such confusion
is growing. Scientists of all subspecies must make clear at every opportunity
that technology, true, is a part of science but that it is not the major part,
that its growth and achievements are derivative of the work and discoveries
of investigators in the "pure sciences", of men and women, that is,
who are motivated primarily by human curiosity about this strange and wondrous
universe in which we live, not by their desire to produce more impressive technological
gadgets. The physicists, of course, have a golden opportunity to point out this
relationship in describing the contributions of Enrico Fermi, Arthur Compton,
Albert Einstein, and other "pure" physicists to the development of
the atomic bomb. At first glance it would appear that botany and botanists can
play only a minor role, if any, in the advance of those features of science
that may lead to the improvement of American satellites (unlaunched at this
writing) and to the development of intercontinental missiles. But botanists
do have the opportunity to emphasize the contributions of "pure science"
discoveries to practical applications, and they should take advantage of that
opportunity to implant in the minds of their students and all other lay- men
that lesson. Which, clearly understood, can reduce or eliminate confusion and
can promote the support of the basic, fundamental sciences. We have many examples
of research in the plant sciences to emphasize that idea: the discovery of plant
hormones by men whose only desire was to explain features of the internal regulation
of plant growth; and the resulting practical applications, such as promotion
of the rooting of cuttings, prevention of pre-harvest fruit drop through growth-regulator
sprays, and the killing of weeds by 2.4-D and related compounds; the debt of
modern practical plant breeders to the fundamental discoveries of a gentle and
obscure Austrian priest; the improvement of modern fertilizers as a result of
investigations of the basic features of mineral nutrition of plants by plant
physiologists intent upon finding out more about how plants live; the use of
artificial lighting to control the flowering of greenhouse crops, a technique
derived from the original work on photoperiodism; the dependence of the control
of plant diseases upon basic knowledge of the physiology of parasitic fungi
and other pathogens. Botanists should sing this theme song at every opportunity;
this harmonizing will help to indicate to the public at large and to lawmakers
that, in all programs of improving technology, "pure research" is
fundamental and that technological advances may continue only to the degree
that basic research is encouraged and supported.
FINANCIAL NOTE
Don't forget that the new treasurer (as of Dec. 1. 1957) of Bot. Soc. is A.
J. Sharp, Dept. of Botany, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn. All dues payments,
address changes, new membership applications, etc., should be sent to him henceforth.
not to the retired treasurer, H. J. Fuller, Univ. of Illinois.
THE LYNN INDEX
The late Dr. E. V. Lynn, Dept. of Chemistry, Mass. College of Pharmacy, spent
many years searching the literature for references to phytochemistry. The results
of his work are to be found on some 80,000 index slips, covering references
through 1954, at Mass. College of Pharmacy. This collection is known as the
Lynn File. Professors John W. Schermerhorn and M. W. Quimby of that institution
have undertaken the organization and editing of the material for publication
as THE LYNN INDEX. This work has been in progress since June 1957, under a grant
furnished by Smith, Kline, and French Laboratories. Monograph I of the index,
consisting of 46 pages, has been published recently and is now available. It
is estimated that 70 to 80 issues will be needed to complete the project. The
contents of each monograph will be arranged so that one can determine what work
has been reported on a given plant and what constituents have been isolated
and identified. The bibliographies will be annotated so that the reader can
quickly determine whether a specific/citation deals with a phase in which he
is interested. Each monograph will center upon species from a single family
or from a group of related families. Monograph I treats the order Centrospermae
and includes nearly 400 references to species in 60 genera among the Aizoaceae,
Amaranthaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Nyctaginaceae, Phytolaccaceae,
and Portulacaceae. Announcements will be made later as further issues of THE
LYNN INDEX are published. Monograph I is available at $1 per copy. A check or
money order should accompany each order. Address orders to THE LYNN INDEX, Mass.
College of Pharmacy, 179 Longwood Ave., Boston 15. Mass.
PERGAMON INSTITUTE
July 1957 PSB carried information about Pergamon Institute, without, however,
stating the U.S. address of that organization. This information has just reached
the editor: Pergamon Institute, 122 E. 55th St., New York 22, N.Y.
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