PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

VOLUME 11   OCTOBER, 1965   NUMBER 2

Preparing a Rain Forest Exhibit for Smithsonian's New Hall of Plant Life

THOMAS R. SODERSTROM
Smithsonian Institution

In many American museums, botanical exhibit subjects have long been stifled in favor of "more interesting" zoological subjects. At best, plants are exhibited merely as background to illustrate the habitat of the animals being portrayed. In order to broaden topical coverage, to present all facets of natural history, and to modernize existing exhibits, a systematic program of rehabilitation has been underway in the U.S. National Museum' for several years. Those of us with botanical interests will welcome plans for the establishment, within the next few years, of a Hall of PIant Life. Preliminary studies and drawings are already in progress to result in a series of life-size exhibits depicting important life groups of the Americas.

A major exhibit in the new Hall of Plant Life will be the tropical rain forest as exemplified in northern South America. If plans materialize, this exhibit will be unique in that the viewer will actually pass through the forest with its somber canopy overhead, lianas, epiphytes, and array of dangling aerial roots. In order best to define the rain forest for exhibit, it was necessary to select an actual site where living plant materials could be photographed and drawn, collected, preserved and reproduced as delicately and naturally tinted models on the spot. Because the rain forest is so well typified in Kaieteur National Park in British Guiana, and because of the spectacular natural setting provided by the majestic 741-foot Kaieteur Fall, it was felt that this was the area after which to pattern the major exhibit in the Hall of Plant Life.

Kaieteur National Park is situated some 140 miles south of the capital city of Georgetown on the coast. Per-mission was granted by the British Guiana government to allow a group of Smithsonian staff members to work in the National Park, and studies commenced there early in February 1962. Leader of the expedition was Dr. Richard S. Cowan, botanist in charge of the Hall of Plant Life. Dr.

' The U.S. National Museum is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution comprising the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of History and Technology.

Cowan was accompanied by Mr. Reginald Sayre, artist and dioramist of the Museum's exhibit staff, and Mr. Paul Marchand, modelmaker and dioramist of Buffalo, New York. Mr. Marchand was asked to accompany our group because of his advanced techniques in modelmaking under field conditions. The author served as botanical photographer and collector. The British Guiana Forest Department arranged to have four of its men accompany us. One of these, an East Indian, acted as cook. The other three were Amerindians, a term used to distinguish native Indians from the East Indians who form the largest percentage of the country's population. Two Amerindians served as general labor assistants, while the third was our most valued assistant, Mr. Rufus Boyan. Mr. Boyan is a ranger and botanist with the Forest Service whose broad knowledge of the rain forest was of continuous aid. After final preparations in Georgetown, the expedition departed for the interior in amphibious planes with trunks of supplies and equipment, food, and personal baggage.

Within a short time after take-off our plane had passed over Georgetown and the outskirting sugar and rice plantations. A single road, appearing threadlike in the forest below, leaves the coast heading for Mandia and Issano to the southwest. About 90 miles south of the coast the flat topography of the rain forest gives way to occasional plateaus which rise to 1000 or more feet in height. Farther south the entire land mass is elevated and forms the large Kaieteur Plateau. This plateau is part of the Pakaraima Series of sandstone ridges which extend from neighboring Venezuela and Brazil into British Guiana. The Potaro River, on which Kaieteur Fall is situated, cuts through the plateau below the Fall to form the richly-vegetated walls of the Potaro River Gorge. Our plane passed between the walls of the gorge and approached directly toward the Fall before circling overhead to land on the river above the Fall.

The area in which we landed is uninhabited by Amerindians, and the few people who happened to be at the plane landing when we arrived were Negro prospectors who work

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CHANGES OF ADDRESS: Notify the Treasurer of the Botanical Society of America, Inc., Dr. Harlan P. Banks, Department of Botany, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

SUBSCRIPTIONS for libraries and persons not members of the Botanical Society of America are obtainable at the rate of $2.00 a year. Send orders with checks payable to "Botanical Society of America, Inc." to the Treasurer.

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION should be type-written double-spaced, and sent in duplicate to the Editor. Copy should follow the style of recent issues of the Bulletin.

the inland streams for diamonds and gold. At first encounter we found it difficult to understand them, for they spoke a "talkie-talkie" English, a curious admixture of words and phrases which relies heavily on vowels and fluid sounds. We scouted the mile of forest between the plane landing and the Fall to decide upon a location for base camp. With amazing agility and speed our assistants moved the entire plane cargo from the landing to our campsite and cleared two adjoining areas in the forest for shelters. Posts were sunk in the ground, and a tarpaulin was erected overhead for the main shelter. At one end of this shelter the folding aluminum table and chairs used for working and dining were situated. The rest of the shelter accommodated our four hammocks which were slung between supporting posts, each enclosed in mosquito netting. Another tarpaulin was set up to act as a storage shelter. A third smaller shelter for cooking completed our camp. As time went on, we came increasingly to appreciate these shelters. It rained almost every night, and few days went by without some rain, even though this was supposedly the "dry" season. Within several hours, and by sundown, we were comfortably established in our new home.

The first few days were spent in reconnaissance of the area. As is well known, the tropical rain forest bears little resemblance to forests of the temperate regions. The number of species in a given area is remarkably high and diverse, and pure stands of a single species extending over large areas are virtually unknown here except under specialized edaphic conditions. The forest near camp consisted of a few extremely large trees, the crowns of which emerged above the closed canopy. Among these larger trees were legumes (e.g., Dicymbe and Peltogyne) and members of Lauraceae. Lower story trees belong to many families—Guttiferae, Annonaceae, Lecythidaceae, Leguminosae, and Palmae. Conspicuously dominating the vegetation of the forest floor are members of the Marantaceae (Monotagma, Ischnosiphon), Bromeliaceae, Araceae, Melastomaceae, and Rapateaceae, along with some sedges, ferns and the distinctive broad-leaved grass Pariana. Patches of a species of wild pineapple (Ananas) occur here and there. The mature fruits are only 2-3 inches long, but are as sweet as any of the larger horticultural varieties.

The most striking feature of the forest is the epiphytic growth which is everywhere abundant. Species of bromeliads, aroids, and orchids account for the great majority of these. Many of the aroids, attached to branches high in the trees, produce aerial roots which grow downward, eventually to reach the soil and endow the onetime epiphyte with a partially terrestrial existence. Some species of Clusia ( Guttiferae) , which occur as terrestrial trees when adult, began their lives as such epiphytes high in the branches of supporting trees. The brink of the Fall was only a short distance from base camp. The forest surrounding the Fall is exposed to a fine mist which rises up the walls of the gorge from the splash basin below to give the appearance of a cloud forest. Because of this dripping atmosphere, epiphytes are even more numerous than in the nearby forest. Climbing Melastomaceae and Philodendron (Araceae) clothe the tree trunks, and on the ground patches of red-bracted Heliconia (Musaceae) and trailing, white-flowered Episcia (Gesneriaceae) create a superb natural botanical garden.

The forest, however, after which we wanted to pattern our exhibit was the denser, more typical, rain forest of the gorge. Previously to our coming, there had been no established trail into the gorge so it was necessary to blaze one down the steep slopes. Our Amerindians, highly proficient with the machete, completed it within a couple of days. Where the trail was interrupted by sheer boulder faces, it was necessary to descend by rope. Halfway down the trail an opening in the forest revealed the grandeur of the Fall in the distance. There was no question in our minds then, that this was to be the focal point of our exhibit. Our precipitous, cliff-hugging trail would be vicariously traversed by those who walk through the Hall of Plant Life to see the rain forest of Kaieteur.

It became increasingly evident to us that the rain forest has a peculiar physiognomy, brought on in part by the inherent multiplicity of form and color in the plants, which would have to be captured in order to make our exhibit "feel" like a rain forest. Such features as buttressed and fluted tree trunks, the stilt roots which raise some trees off the forest floor, masses of pendent aerial roots, the ropey, twisted stems of lianas grown about each other several times, and the brightly colored, softly drooping, new foliage combine to give the forest a characteristic aspect. Such types of growth apparently are the results of rain forest conditions, for they are not confined necessarily to particular taxa, but are manifested in species belonging to widely unrelated families. To reproduce this association will chal-

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Ienge the modelmakers and artists of our exhibits staff who will use plastics, plaster, and paint to mimic nature.

During our stay at Kaieteur the trip from base camp into the gorge became routine. The plants which would be closest to the viewer in the exhibit and therefore would require the most detailed and exacting reproduction were worked on first. Accessory fill-in vegetation of the back-ground was tackled after these had been completed.

In order to grasp the impression of the tropical rain forest, color photographs were taken of each plant showing it in its natural relation to other vegetation. In addition, close-ups were made of the individual plants, the flowers, fruits, upper and lower surfaces of the leaves, and any other necessary details which might aid the exhibits staff in reproducing the plant and placing it correctly in the diorama. Plaster molds were prepared in the field of many smaller forms as the golden saprophytic gentian (Leiphaimos), bromeliads, tree seedlings on the forest floor, and other herbaceous plants. A single model of each of these types was cast from the mold and exactingly painted from the living material. Additional models will be cast later in the exhibits laboratories and coloration executed from the field models.

Little difficulty was encountered in preparing complete molds of small herbaceous plants in the field, but shrubs, because of their Iarger size, required a different approach. The first step was to photograph the plant from several positions, especially noting the position of the branches and attachment of leaves, flowers, and fruits. The shrub was then defoliated, and molds were made of the different-sized leaves and any flowers or fruits present. In its "deciduous" condition, the entire shrub was tied into a bundle, dried, and shipped back to the Museum. In the final exhibit the actual shrub will be used, and all other structures cast from the original field molds will be attached to its branches. Tree trunks were the largest single items to require reproduction. In these instances detailed measurements of the trunk were taken to supplement the photographic record. Rubber-base press molds were made of only representative portions of the trunk. In the final exhibit, a plaster model of the trunk, internally reinforced by iron and wood, will be constructed. This will be superimposed with an outer layer of papier-māche to which the field molds will be appressed, recreating the exact surface and texture detail. Coloration to be added will be based on photographs, notes, and field sketches prepared by the artists.

It was not necessary, nor was it feasible, to make molds of all plants directly in the field. Many were preserved in formaldehyde and shipped back to the Museum where the molds will be made later in the convenience of the lab-oratory. All such plants are associated with photographs and, in many cases, field sketches. A large quantity of actual ground cover, including dead leaves, twigs and mosses, was collected to be used in the exhibit as is. Likewise, many of the lianas, or ropes, were collected, and these will be employed in their actual form to enhance the realism. Additional vines can be modeled from these as needed.

An important consideration in any diorama is the painted background and, in this case, also the ceiling canopy. The artist will base the background on color photographs, water colors, and oil paintings of Kaieteur Fall. The Fall was photographed from the gorge trail as it will appear in the diorama and at closer range to provide the artist with a more detailed view. The ceiling will be painted according to color photographs. Contrary to popular opinion, when the sun is shining, the forest canopy is not merely a dark mass of Ieaves and branches, but an intricate pattern of colors, ranging from the black patches of thicker leaves to the lighter greens of tracery foliage.

A discussion of the rain forest would not be complete without mentioning some of the many interesting animals which make their home in it. Parrots and macaws flying overhead were common throughout the day, and late each afternoon the large-billed toucans could be heard calling to each other atop the highest trees. The most striking bird was the orange male cock-of-the-rock which was a familiar sight in the gorge, but other animals such as monkeys, ant-eaters, and rodents were seen less frequently.

By the end of March we had completed our field work in the gorge, and the planes came in to take us back to Georgetown. As we looked from the plane window for the last time at Kaieteur below, our thoughts were filled with the beauty of the Fall and the splendor of the rain forest. Our mission will have been successful if those who view the exhibit in the future will experience a similar feeling.

Problems in Botanical Terminology:
A Proposal

HOWARD J. STEIN

Grand Valley State College
Allendale, Michigan

The sciences are currently in the early stages of an in-formation explosion; higher education the world over is facing an ever-increasing number of students throughout the foreseeable future. If anything is ever to be done about in-consistencies and inaccuracies in botanical terminology, logic compels us to correct the terminology now. This should have been done piecemeal years ago.

A good deal of the terminology familiar to all botanists originated with the physicians of several centuries ago. Words were coined and borrowed from human anatomy with the sometimes mistaken impression that the plant structures were exact counterparts to those of animal bodies. Even today researchers are frequently forced to invent names (for the sake of clarity and convenience) which Iater prove to be misnomers. The tragedy is that those who are already familiar

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with the definitions and limitations of the misnomers are content to accept them, not realizing or accepting the burden placed upon future generations of students.

I am not referring here to taxonomic nomenclature at all. The examples which readily come to mind originate from various botanical disciplines. The angiosperm ovary is neither homologous nor analogous to the animal ovary, and this term has needlessly misled students (particularly those who have already studied zoology). An alternative has been suggested, ovulary. This would be an improvement if ovule were acceptable, but the latter implies a function which is not a property of the structure involved. With reference to Equisetum we refer to the annulus and use the same word to designate a totally unrelated and dissimilar structure in ferns. The endosperms of gymnosperms and of angiosperms are not homologous. How many students (and authors of textbooks) have foundered on the osmotic pressure concept? Osmotic potential appears to me to be a most desirable alternative which not only avoids the word pressure but indicates the true nature of the term.

It is not my intention here to present an exhaustive list of examples nor to suggest specific changes. Rather, I would like to propose that the Botanical Society take the lead in studying the problem and considering possible solutions.

Perhaps the Society alone or in conjunction with sister organizations can arrive at some agreement on terminology. AIBS is certainly a logical organization to coordinate such action. Approval by an International Botanical Congress might be preferable, although the formulation of an imposing and complex mechanism for general botanical terminology comparable to the international rules of nomenclature is, in my opinion, undesirable.

How could such an agreement work? First of all, changes would be contemplated only in cases of generally accepted misnomers; it would be ridiculous to consider changes which would lead to factions in support of one term against an-other. Proposed modifications would be few in number and would best be restricted to avoid entanglement with the more esoteric jargon of the science. Once accord for a change had been reached by a formal body, widespread publication and time for adverse reaction would follow. In the absence of strong and unemotional objection, the change would be published with the suggestion that subsequent publications would employ the new term.

Could such an agreement work? Attempts in the past to do this sort of thing within small areas of botany have met with varying responses. Within the past few years the biochemists have made sweeping changes which were accepted and implemented with amazing rapidity and relatively little fuss. The primary resistance to alteration of terminology in any field would come from the professionals who feel comfortable with the existing terms and who balk at the prospect of having to relearn something they have already mastered. If changes were made slowly and with care, the burden of new terms would be negligible. Regard-less, the long-run benefit would outweigh the temporary inconvenience.

Report of the Committee
on Education

At an open meeting of the Society's Committee on Education, held Tuesday evening, August 25, 1964, during the course of the AIBS meetings at Boulder, Colorado, a lively discussion took place concerning the position of botany in the core-biology curricula, such as are being widely discussed under the auspices of the Commission on Undergraduate Education in the Biological Sciences. It was suggested that I write a short summary of this discussion for consideration by other members of the Botanical Society. The views which I shall present, however, are not necessarily my own nor those of any of the members present, but represent some ideas we think should be brought out for consideration and discussion by botanists. The following persons attended this meeting: L. E. Anderson, H. B. Creighton, C. Crow, R. E. Geyer, V. A. Greulach, A. Hecht, R. W. Hoshaw, J. L. Martens, S. N. Postlethwait, R. B. Stevens, and P. A. Vestal.

There was particular concern that many of the core courses might be slanted too strongly toward animal and human biology with only peripheral references to plants. In other, but probably fewer, cases the reverse emphasis might occur. Considerable caution will be needed in organizing and staffing these courses if these dangers are to be obviated. At the secondary-school level, it is probably inevitable that the biology instructors cannot be specialists of all of the areas they must teach, if indeed they themselves ever actively engage in original research in any of the subjects they teach. It was the consensus of our group that advanced courses in the biological sciences at the college level should not be taught this way, but by persons actively engaged in advancing the frontiers of at least some of the areas they present. It was felt, for example, that the botanist should not be asked to teach animal anatomy, and lectures on plant anatomy should ordinarily not be presented by a zoologist nor a micro-biologist. Even though the non-botanist may be a superior lecturer and may have read extensively in textbooks of plant anatomy, his probable lack of first-hand experience disqualifies him, we thought, to teach this subject in advanced courses at the university level. Team teaching is probably a large part of the answer to effective teaching of the core-biology courses; each section of each course must be taught by a staff member who has had direct experience with the subject matter that he presents.

There is probably much to be gained from the core-type curricula in reducing excessive duplication of the facts

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and principles that are common to all or almost all organisms. On the other hand, presentations must not be so simplified that subtle differences between plants and animals are ignored. Some duplication in presentation may serve a useful function in illustrating the alternate pathways by which different groups of organisms may accomplish similar processes. Another advantage of core curricula is the obvious one of assuring a reasonable measure of breadth in all biologists, such that those who later become specialists cannot take a doubtful pride in being completely unaware of at least the basic facts about organisms of the other kingdom. The full cooperation and active participation of botanists in these inevitable and probably highly desirable developments in biological sciences curricula will be required to assure an adequate proportion of botany in the training of all biologists.

Adolph Hecht

Committee on Education

Awards Made at the
Urbana Meeting

1. Merit Awards of the Botanical Society of America

To Daniel Israel Arnon for his contributions to our knowledge of the mineral nutrients of plants and for his distinguished pioneering work on the way green plants utilize the energy of sunlight.

To Harold Charles Bold for his classical research on morphology, cytology, and cultivation of unicellular algae and his scholarly surveys of the plant kingdom; an outstanding teacher and considerate editor.

2. New York Botanical Garden Award

To Drs. R. E. Alston and B. L. Turner in recognition of their book; Biochemical Systematics, which has had so strong and widespread an impact in systematics. The award also recognizes the continuing significant research of this fruitful partnership.

3. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Award

To Dr. Kenneth W. Hunt, Director of Glen Helen at Antioch College, for his imaginative guidance in developing the concept of the "Country Common," where the farm, the state park, the school forest, the conservation camp, and the natural area all combine to form a complex land-use pattern of open space that enhances the quality of life of the Yellow Springs community; and for his effective leadership in gaining the understanding, cooperation, and participation of the students, faculty, administration, and alumni of Antioch College, of the local citizens, of town and state officials, and of state and national organizations in the preservation and enlightened use of the plant communities found with the Common.

4. The Henry Allen Gleason Award of the New York Botanical Garden to the author of an outstanding paper in the

field of Botany, preferably in areas of systematics, ecology, or phytogeography

Presented to Mr. Rupert C. Barneby for his monumental work, "Atlas of North American Astragalus," appearing in the Memoirs of the N.Y. Botanical Garden Vol. 13, 1188 pp.

5. Darbaker Award of the Botanical Society of America

To Dr. Francis R. Trainor for his meritorious work in the unicellular algae, especially his discovery of sexuality in the genus Scenedesmus.

6. Cooley Award of the American Society of Plant Taxono-

mists for the best paper presented at the annual meeting

To Dr. John T. Mickel for his paper "Hybridization in Mexican Species of Anemia."

Notes from the Editor

Rather than delay publication of an issue of the Bulletin for want of sufficient copy to fill the available space I plan to comment on some botanical topics, and I wish to invite the other members of the Editorial Board and, indeed, all members of the Society to provide similar notes for inclusion whenever space is available.

My special topic at this time is "protoplasm," a term first proposed in 1839 by Purkinje, and at least until recently generally considered to be the name of the Iiving substance of cells. Most descriptions of the properties of protoplasm have been restricted to those of the cytoplasm, and have generally excluded such special organelles as the plastids, mitochondria, centrosomes, Golgi, ribosomes, and Iysosomes. Electron micrographs have shown that much of what remains of the cytoplasm consists of the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. Upon this basis the principal speaker at the General Session of the Urbana A.I.B.S. meetings, Dr. Peter B. Medawar, Director of the National Institute for Medical Research, London, commented that what we had called protoplasm no longer exists. If Dr. Medawar was fully serious in this observation and if others agree, we appear to have gone "full circle" from the time of Purkinje, through reticular, fibrillar, granular, alveolar, brush-heap, and coacervate interpretations of protoplasmic structure, and now to a denial that any generalized substance remains after the organelles and membranes are given special status.

For two reasons I suggest that we not abandon the protoplasmic doctrine: first because I think there is something between these organelles and membranes, or at least there was something there before the dehydration necessary for observation under the electron microscope occurred. In the second place, the membranes themselves, if not the organelles, probably exhibited in their natural dispersed condition the properties we had ascribed to protoplasm before they were collapsed by dehydration. While I concur in Dr. Frey-Wyssling's "Praise of Electron Microscopy" (p. 67, Proc. Tenth International Botanical Congress), I also think we must show restraint in accepting what we see in electron micrographs as the sum and substance of the living cell.

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News and Notes
Guide to Graduate Study in Botany

The Education Committee of the Botanical Society has been asked to assemble information for the preparation of a guide to graduate study in botany. We are thinking in terms of something like the American Chemical Society's "Directory of Graduate Research," but at least to begin, on a somewhat more modest scale. The proposed guide should prove of value to all participating departments and to their prospective graduate students.

Early this past summer some 120 questionnaires were mailed to chairmen of those botany and biology departments that we thought offer or plan soon to offer the Ph.D. degree in botany. If you are the chairman of a department in this category and have not received a copy of this questionnaire, please write for one at once. If you have not yet returned your copy, it would be greatly appreciated if you would complete it and mail it in by October 15.

Department chairmen are plagued by questionnaires, but we feel that this is one which should result in benefits for us, our undergraduate seniors who are looking for appropriate departments for their graduate study, and for beginning graduate students in this country and abroad seeking more information about opportunities for graduate study in botany.

Please direct all inquiries to: Adolph Hecht, Department of Botany, Washington State University, Pullman, Washing-ton 99163.

CUEBS Announcements

The Commission on Undergraduate Education in the Biological Sciences (CUEBS) has moved its offices to new and larger quarters in Suite 304, 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20006. The new phone number is 298-7766, Area 202.

Dr. Victor A. Greulach, Executive Director of CUEBS, has resigned effective September 1, 1965, to resume his duties as Chairman of the Department of Botany at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is being re-placed by Dr. Martin W. Schein, Professor of Zoology at The Pennsylvania State University. On July 1, 1965, Dr. Ted F. Andrews of Kansas State Teachers College assumed his duties as Associate Director of CUEBS, and Dr. Jay Barton II of St. Joseph's College was added to the office personnel as a Staff Biologist.

Dr. Thomas S. Hall of Washington University, St. Louis, has resigned as Chairman of the Commission effective September 1, 1965, and will be succeeded by Dr. Earl D. Hanson of Wesleyan University.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant for support of CUEBS for a two-year period beginning July 1, 1965, with The George Washington University as the grantee institution. Information about the CUEBS program and plans for the coming year will appear in the October issue of the Commission's newsletter, CUEBS News. Those not on the mailing list for this publication can secure it without charge by sending their names and addresses (including the zip code) to the CUEBS office.

American Tables Committee

The American Tables Committee is now reviewing applications for laboratory space at the Naples Zoological Station, Naples, Italy. This Station, offering opportunities in behavioral, physiological, biochemical, and radiological re-search, is supported in large measure by various institutions throughout the world. The United States has supported the Station in recent years by buying 10 of these "tables"; each table providing all of the logistic support for the researcher during the year. The Tables Committee of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation, accepts and reviews applications and makes selections of scientists.

Applications must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the date for beginning research. Requests for forms should be made directly to Richard J. Burk, American Institute of Biological Sciences, 3900 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016.

XI International Botanical Congress

The XI International Botanical Congress has been scheduled to be held in Seattle, Washington, beginning on or about August 25, 1969. The National Committee for organizing the Congress will include the following persons:

Chairman: Dr. Kenneth B. Raper, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706

Secretary: Dr. Richard S. Cowan, Deputy Director, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washing-ton, D.C., 20560

Dr. Herbert G. Baker, Director of the Botanical Garden, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720

Dr. Harold G. Bold, Department of Botany, University of Texas, Austin, Texas. 78712

PAGE SEVEN

Dr. Albert E. Dimond, Chief, Department of Plant Pathology and Botany, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Box 1106, New Haven, Connecticut, 06504

Dr. Paul J. Kramer, Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27706

Dr. Anton Lang, Director, MSU/AEC Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48823

Dr. Reed C. Rollins, Director of the Gray Herbarium,

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

Dr. Adrian S. Srb, Department of Plant Breeding, Cornell

University, Ithaca, New York, 14850

Dr. Richard B. Walker, Chairman, Department of Botany, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98105

(An additional member from the University of Washing-ton will be appointed later.)

Mineral Absorption Symposium

A symposium, "The Mineral Nutrition of Plants," is scheduled to be held at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, on October 15-16, 1965. The pro-gram will be as follows:

Friday, October 15, 1965—afternoon

Dr. D. P. Moore, Department of Soils, Oregon State University, "Nutrient Availability and Plant Response"

Dr. N. Higinbotham, Department of Botany, Washington State University, "Nutrient Absorption Mechanisms"

Dr. O. Biddulph, Department of Botany, Washington State University, "Translocation of Elements in Plants"

Dr. D. J. Wort, Department of Biology and Botany, The University of British Columbia, "Foliar Application of Nutrients and Other Substances"

Saturday, October 16, 1965—morning

Dr. P. C. DeKock, Department of Plant Physiology, Macauley Institute for Soil Research, Aberdeen, Scotland, "Interaction of Major and Minor Elements in Plants"

Dr. G. J. Sorger, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, "The Biochemical Role of Potassium in Living Tissue"

Dr. J. A. Stewart, Research Station, Canada Department of Agri-culture, Summerland, "Magnesium Relationships in Soils and Plants"

Sigma Xi Presents Dr. Katherine Esau as
National Lecturer for Southwest Tour

Dr. Katherine Esau of the University of California, Santa Barbara, will deliver her address "Explorations of the Food-Conducting System in Plants" as a 1965-1966 National Lecturer for the Society of the Sigma Xi and its affiliated society The Scientific Research Society of America at the

following colleges, universities, and research laboratories: October 11, 1965 New Mexico State University Sigma Xi Chap-ter, University Park, New Mexico

October 12, 1965 Texas Technological College Sigma Xi Chapter, Lubbock, Texas

October 13, 1965 University of Texas Medical Branch Sigma Xi Chapter, Galveston, Texas

October 14, 1965 Central Texas Research Society RESA Branch, Temple, Texas

October 15, 1965 Baylor University Sigma Xi Club, Waco, Texas October 18, 1965 Oklahoma State University Sigma Xi Chapter, Stillwater, Oklahoma

October 19, 1965 University of Arkansas Sigma Xi Chapter, Fayetteville, Arkansas

October 20, 1965 Texas Christian University Sigma Xi Club, Fort Worth, Texas

October 21, 1965 Joint sponsorship by Socony Mobil Dallas Branch RESA and Southwestern Medical School Sigma Xi Club, Dallas, Texas

October 22, 1965 University of Arizona Sigma Xi Chapter, Tucson, Arizona

Drainage Conference

The Botanical Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Conservation Society of America are among the several organizations cooperating in a conference on "Drainage for Efficient Crop Production" sponsored by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, and scheduled for December 6 and 7, 1965, at the Sherman House in Chicago. Program copies and registration information can be obtained from ASAE Head-quarters, 420 Main Street, St. Joseph, Michigan.

The Monday morning, December 6, session, which will be of particular interest to botanists, is scheduled as follows:

Program planner: Jan van Schilfgaarde, ARS, Beltsville, Md. Meeting chairman: Jan van Schilfgaarde

Theme: Drainage Requirements of Plants

8:15-8:30 Conference introduction

8:30-9:15 Drainage requirements of plants—J. T. Woolley, plant physiologist, ARS, Urbana, Ill. (accepted) 9:30-11:00 Panel members:

J. Letey, Univ. of Calif., Riverside—measuring aeration (accepted)

A. E. Erickson, Mich. State Univ.—short-term oxygen

deficiencies and plant response (accepted)

P. J. Kramer, Duke Univ.—aeration and plant roots

(accepted)

G. A. Zentmyer, Univ. of Calif., Riverside—soil aeration and plant disease

P. J. Zwerman, Cornell Univ.—nitrogen compensation for poor drainage (accepted)

11:00-12:00 Panel discussion

Personalia

CHARLES E. MILLER, formerly of the University of Maine, has accepted a position in the Department of Botany, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701.

JOHN D. REYNOLDS, formerly of the University of South Carolina, has accepted a position, effective September 1, 1965, as Assistant Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39401.

C. F. SHU'rrs, formerly of Beloit College, has accepted a position as Associate Professor of Biology in the Division of Natural Sciences at the new California State College at San Bernardino. Although the first classes are scheduled for this fall, the permanent Biological Sciences Building of some 60,000 square feet will not be completed until the fall of 1967. Dr. Shutts will also serve as Coordinator of the General Biology Course.

JOHN H. MCCLENDON, plant physiologist, has joined the Department of Botany as Associate Professor of Botany,

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University of Nebraska. Studies on pectolytic enzymes, be-gun while Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Food Technology, University of Delaware, will be continued at Nebraska.

ROBERT B. KAUL, from the University of Minnesota, has become Assistant Professor of Botany, Department of Botany, University of Nebraska. He will carry on research in experimental plant morphology.

Dr. DAVID H. GRIFFIN and Dr. DONALD A. EGGERT

have joined the faculty of the Department of Botany, University of Iowa, Iowa City. Dr. Griffin is introducing a pro-gram of teaching and research in Experimental Mycology, and Dr. Eggert will be offering courses and research training in Paleobotany. Dr. Griffin comes from a postdoctoral appointment at the Department of Biology, California Institute of Technology. Dr. Eggert has been Assistant Professor of Botany at the University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale, and Visiting Lecturer, Department of Biology, Yale University.

SAMUEL N. POSTLETHWAIT of Purdue University is the new Chairman of the Botanical Society's Committee on Education. Other current members of this committee are LEWIS E. ANDERSON (Duke University) , R. B. CHANNEL (Vanderbilt University), HARRIET B. CREIGHTON (Wellesley College), ADOLPH HECHT (Washington State University), ROBERT M. PAGE (Stanford University), and RUSSELL B. STEVENS (George Washington University) .

Obituary

The death of Dr. LEWIS HANFORD TIFFANY on March 13, 1965, at the age of 70 after a prolonged illness ended the career of an outstanding botanist in research, scholarly writing, and dedicated teaching. He is survived by his wife, Loel Zehner Tiffany, his inspiration and helper for 45 years.

Hanford Tiffany was born in Lawrence County, Illinois, July 29, 1894. He began his career as an undergraduate at Eastern Illinois State University. After a brief interruption as a Second Lieutenant, U.S.A. in 1918, he obtained a B.S. at the University of Chicago in 1919. He transferred to Ohio State University for graduate study where he obtained the M.Sc. in 1921, and the Ph.D. in 1923. While at Ohio State Hanford began his lifework of research and college teaching which lasted for 40 years. Here he advanced through the ranks of instructor to Professor of Botany in 1932—the rank which he held until 1937 when he came to Northwestern University as Professor of Botany and Chairman of the Botany Department. He remained at Northwestern for the remainder of his active career, and after the merger of botany and zoology into the Department of Biological Sciences (1949) he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Department for several years.

Dr. Tiffany was a lively, stimulating, thought-provoking teacher who aroused the interests and curiosities of his students. His dedication as a teacher is mirrored in his articles "Botany for College Freshmen. Why?" and "Arousing Stu-dent's Interest in Biology." His effectiveness as a teacher is attested to by the fact that 25 students earned Ph.D.s under his direction. It was in his research on algae, Oedogoniaceae in particular, that Dr. Tiffany achieved international recognition as a scholar. His productivity resulted in 12 books and the publication of over 70 scientific papers. His best-known textbook is Life: An Introduction to Biology (with G. G. Simpson and C. S. Pittendrigh) (1957). Perhaps his most popular book is Algae: The Grass of Many Waters (1938, 1958) in which much factual material is presented in a delightfully fresh and informal style.

He was a quiet, self-effacing man. Many honors came to him in recognition of his work as a scholar and as a public servant. He was Vice-President (1930) and President (1934) of American Microscopical Society; Vice-President (1937) and President (1939) of the Limnological Society of America; Vice-President (1948) and President (1949) of the Phycological Society of America; a member of the Committee on Hydrobiology—National Research Council (1930-36) ; appointed William Deering Professor of Botany at Northwest-ern (1945) ; an Honorary Life Member of Centro Italiano de Studi Anglo-Franco-Americani (1946) ; given an honorary Ph.D. by Eastern Illinois State (1949) ; a member of the Board of Governors of the Chicago Academy of Sciences; Research Associate in Botany for the Chicago Natural History Museum; an invited speaker at the Eighth International Congress of Botanists at Paris, France (1954) ; Chairman of the Illinois Board of Natural Resources and Conservation; and listed in Who's Who in America.

Dr. Tiffany retired as Emeritus Professor of Northwest-ern University in 1959, although he expected to continue his research on the algae. Such was not to be. A fitting tribute was paid to our friend and associate when the Transactions of the American Microscopical Society (1960) dedicated the entire year to Lewis Hanford Tiffany in honor of his retirement. He will long be remembered by his col-leagues, students, and friends for his many services to his fellowmen and the advancement of knowledge.

Faculty
Department of Biological Sciences
Northwestern University

Request for Research Materials

Wanted for research purposes: seeds, leaf or stem cuttings of the following succulents: Bryophyllum calcycinum, Bryophyllum daigrenzontianum, Kalancho~ marmorata, Kalanchoe blossf eldiana, Sedum kamtschaticum, Sedum verticillatum, Cotyledon peacockii. Please give details of material availability and charges involved to: Landy J. McBride, Research and Development Division, International Minerals and Chemical Corp., Old Orchard Road, Skokie, Illinois.