PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

October 1966   Volume Twelve   Number Three

The Past as Prelude¹

Edmund W. Sinnott
Yale University

It is customary for one who has been chosen as presiding officer for a group of scientists to pay for this privilege by presenting an address which attempts to instruct, admonish, or exhort his hearers. The efforts of such men are not unlike those of Commencement orators. Both are among the mores that must be observed in our particular culture. Occasionally one finds an officer with wit and resources enough to break the mold and offer something really original. In the history of the Botanical Society of America one of these appeared forty-five years ago in the person of Dr. N. L. Britton, a modest man who disliked public show. When the time came for him to give his presidential address, he failed to appear, but he sent his manuscript to the Secretary, who presented it to the Society at its annual dinner—a check for $1,000! This laudable precedent, so economical of time and patience and so permanently productive, has never been followed, so far as I know. I certainly shall not do so now, and for more than one reason.

First, on this happy occasion let me congratulate the Botanical Society of America for having established a section on the History of Botany. The past has a charm for almost everyone, as witness the hundreds of books that are written about it every year and the thousands of thriving antique shops whose breath of life it is. As botanists it is both necessary and appropriate that we concern our-selves with the past to a more immediate purpose, not only as paleobotanists, or phylogenists, or evolutionists but as students of the history and accomplishments of that interesting and indefatigable organism Homo sapiens botanicus. In these days of crashing change and revolutionary ideas it is important to remember that our science was not born yesterday but stretches back to Theophrastus and beyond. I have never been among those who caution their students not to read papers that are more than ten years old since everything important now has happened during that time. This is not always even a safe thing to do. Some years ago, I deliberately searched through the earliest volumes of some of our leading botanical journals for material in my own field and found many valuable papers that had missed getting into later bibliogra-

¹Presented at the Historical Section meeting, Botanical Society of America, August 16, 1965, at Urbana, Illinois.

phies—records of important facts that had been overlooked, and not a few good ideas for further work. Before that, I had done what seemed to me a rather neat piece of work in turning a small dormant horizontal maple branch through 180° and seeing the rather marked effect on the shape of the next season's leaves. Before publishing this, I thought it would be safer, if only as a formality, to go over some of the earlier work on anisophylly, and to my surprise—and chagrin—I found that one of those indefatigable Germans had published the same result in the Botanische Zeitung of 1870! There is certainly a lot of gold still to be found in the hills of bibliographical investigation.

This sort of scavenging in the refuse heaps of past research, however, though often turning up nuggets of lost knowledge, is not, I take it, the sort of historical study that our section has been set up to do. Botanical history is not simply a heterogeneous collection of more or less unrelated happenings but has a logical course, with definite trends and necessary modifications over the years. A knowledge of these is important for every botanist to have if he is to possess a sound understanding of his subject. Fields of research, like organisms, evolve by a sort of selective survival not unlike that in the organic world. In our paleozoic period, so to speak, all botanists were taxonomists, as in the mind of the public they still ought to be, at least so far as to be able to name any pretty flower they may be shown. Later, with the acceptance of the fact of evolution, a reconstruction of the past history of the plant kingdom became the chief concern of many, and phylogeny assumed a central place in botany. This field is intensely interesting, for it is nature's jigsaw puzzle which we are attempting to put together. I remember that as an enthusiastic youth I was determined to devote my life to working out the entire phylogeny of the angiosperms 0), a goal that certainly showed my profound inexperience. Many less ambitious problems were attacked, however, such as the relative position of the Abietineae and Araucarineae among the conifers, the place of the Amentiferae and the Magnoliaceae in the dicotyledons, and what to do with the Gnetales. Morphology, called by Darwin the very soul of natural history, now assumed a central place in botany. Life histories were carefully worked out, and many a doctoral dissertation was based on one of them and little more. Paleobotany, long studied in Europe, soon found its devotees in America also.

But botanists began to see that even if plant relation-

2

ships were all discovered and every life history known, much still remained to be accomplished. Physiology, its roots far back in our science, had a new lease of life. Cytology was studied for its own sake, ecology as a modern science was born and some of its pioneers were members of our Society. The rediscovery of Mendel's Laws turned the attention of many to problems of inheritance, and we tried to see which characters "mendelized" and which did not. This "three-to-one" stage of the science of genetics was soon outgrown, and cytogenetics began to locate genes precisely in the chromosomes. Less than a decade ago came one of the greatest forward steps of all—the discovery of the actual chemical configuration of the genes and an understanding of some of the important processes in gene action.

I mention these things, well known to every student of elementary botany, not only because they are important steps in the history of our science but because they give us an insight into how science moves ahead. At every stage, the new and now dominant field of work partakes somewhat, to its enthusiastic practitioners, of ultimacy. The early taxonomists could see nothing more important than the names and classification of plants. Evolution made such a profound change in biological thought that to answer the questions it raised seemed to be the end of the road. A college classmate of my father's said he was not going to continue his work in biology because Darwin had solved all its important problems. Phylogeny was merely the working out of the grand idea of evolution. Cytogenetics, to many graduate students in the 1920's, seemed to be another end point. If one could locate genes precisely in the chromosomes, what more was there to do. The same finality is evident in biochemical genetics today. There are not lacking those who say that all biology will ultimately turn out to be only a study of the properties of DNA, and that all else is stamp collecting or mere natural history. These enthusiasts forget that the problems of organic form, of organizing relations, and the deeper one of the organism itself are still essentially unsolved. The fact that there is such a vast amount of undiscovered territory in botany, as in other sciences, is what makes science an occupation so adventurous and exciting. As soldiers of research, men probe the long line of the unknown, and where a weak spot is found they pour through the gap, now here, now there. These local concentrations of interest are not simply fads. Most of them have a necessary place in the development of a science. Botany could go nowhere until plants had names. There could be little physiology until something was known of chemistry and physics. There could be no phylogeny until evolution was accepted, or modern genetics until chromosomes were discovered. To be sure, there is still some chasing of botanical band-wagons as interest comes and goes, but most of these excursions have left a substantial body of men to occupy the new territory and give opportunity for further advance. We are by no means sure of where the most vulnerable point for a new attack will turn out to be. A botanical historian should examine these shifts of interest and accomplishment, and study their relation to the growth of our science. If a graduate student, in choosing a subject for his research, is perspicacious enough to examine the trends that have been evident in recent years he will be more likely to find a rewarding field of work than if he simply follows current fashions and does r what others now are doing. One who studies the past intelligently will do better than one who recognizes only the problems of the present.

The history of any science, however, includes much more than a study of fields and trends and directions of development. It involves the people who embody the ideas 11, of the science, who actually participate in its advance. The history of botany is the history of botanists. When the definitive story of the Botanical Society of America is written, as I hope it will be, it will necessarily include an account of the many men and women who have contributed to its progress and success. It has been my privilege, for well over half a century, to know most of the more notable members of our Society, and I wish it were possible to speak about each of them, both as to their personal qualities, which gave so much interest to the botany of past days, and as to the contributions for which they are still remembered. But if a garrulous old man should undertake a task like this, no time would be left for the other things on your program. It seems only fitting, however, that at this first meeting of the Historical Section some recognition should be given to a few of the men and women who were active in molding American botany a generation or two ago when it was much simpler and more unsophisticated than it is today. The few about whom I shall speak here will present, I hope, a little of the flavor of botany in their time.

Most notable among them, perhaps, was that grand old man of American botany, Liberty Hyde Bailey. Leading taxonomist of the cucurbits and the palms, he was much more than this. As Dean of the College of Agri-culture at Cornell for many years and an indefatigable writer and speaker, he did more than any other man to make agriculture intellectually respectable. He also brought to his many friends a vivid picture of the Michigan of

3

his youth, with its Indians, wild pigeons, and the life of the frontier. Well into his tenth decade he led collecting expeditions into the tropics that were often too strenuous for younger men.

Charles E. Bessey, who carried modern botany and its symbol, the microscope, across the Mississippi and planted them firmly in Iowa and then in Nebraska, was a great teacher who learned his taxonomy from Asa Gray but went on to develop what is still recognized as an excellent phylogenetic classification of the higher plants. I met him only once, for he was much older than my generation, but was much impressed by him.

A. F. Blakeslee, whose doctoral dissertation established the astonishing fact that even breadmolds have sex, went on to amplify the chromosome theory by a new line of attack through heteroploidy in Datura. He was a born teacher, who took delight in dramatic demonstrations, long remembered, as when he set up a booth at one of our meetings to test the ability of everyone to taste PTC, thus demonstrating the genetic basis of this physiological trait.

Nathaniel Lord Britton, endowed with the acumen that enabled him to persuade hard-boiled politicians of the City of New York to set aside a large tract of land in the Bronx for the Botanical Garden he was soon to found, was also a distinguished botanist, author of the Illustrated Flora of North America and chief spokesman for the so-called American school of plant taxonomy.

Who that knew him can ever forget A. H. R. Buller? He was a mycologist who brought to his science not only sound research but a vivid sense of showmanship that fascinated his hearers. To listen to him describe, with models and gestures, how basidiospores are shot off was an experience long to be remembered. Ask any oldster who ever heard him!

John M. Coulter, botanical statesman and chairman of the department at the University of Chicago, gathered around him there a galaxy of botanists in a department recognized by many as the most distinguished in the country and which Iong had a predominating influence on the teaching of botany throughout the middle west.

Henry C. Cowles, another of the Chicago group, was an ecologist who was a keen observer of plants but did not need to clutter up his subject with terminology, and was willing to call a spade ā spade and not a geotome. He was almost always present at our meetings, and his booming and infectious laughter never failed to lighten moments that tended to become too serious.

William G. Farlow, his great mind housed in a small body, was the real founder of the science of cryptogamic botany, not only at Harvard but in the United States. A man of tireless energy and encyclopedic knowledge, he was also a Boston patrician whose keen wit and delightful personality attracted all who knew him.

Margaret C. Ferguson was a charming lady and a most careful worker whose exhaustive study of the life history of the pine is a classic. She was also a great teacher and at Wellesley built up a distinguished department of botany.

Merritt L. Fernald, a State-of-Maine Yankee, came as a young taxonomist to the Gray Herbarium where for many years he infected students with his enthusiasm. To go on a field trip with him was a botanical adventure. He brought to taxonomy not only a keen knowledge of plants but a vivid interest in their geographical distribution and the factors that governed it. His criticisms of others were vigorous but almost always justified.

Robert A. Harper, a botanist's botanist, acquainted with every phase of our science, gained from his years in Germany, he brought a knowledge of them home, first to Wisconsin and then to Columbia. He was not afraid to be in the minority, and though working in the same building with T. H. Morgan, differed with him radically in his interpretation of the facts of genetics.

Edward C. Jeffrey, founder of the science of comparative anatomy of the vascular plants, aroused the keen interest of his students in problems of phylogeny. Personally, I am deeply indebted to him. He was a vigorous and outspoken champion of Darwinian orthodoxy against all those who would follow the "false gods" of Mendel and de Vries.

Elmer D. Merrill, a great taxonomist in the tradition of Linnaeus, who early in life went to the Far East when it was almost virgin territory botanically, was said to have given names to more plants than anyone since Adam. He developed in America an interest in the plant life of the Orient and of Latin America.

F. C. Newcombe is best known, perhaps, as the father of the American Journal of Botany, which he brought to birth at a notable meeting of the Botanical Society of America at Atlanta in 1914. His own research was with tropisms and—remarkable as it must seem to a physiologist of today—he learned much of importance about them years before auxin was ever heard of.

W. J. V. Osterhout, who described himself as a disillusioned cytologist, left his work in that field just as it was becoming most interesting. His great ability found expression in other ways, especially in the problems of permeability. Working at first with apparatus so primitive that it would be the despair of a physiologist today, he laid the foundation of our knowledge in several fields. His undergraduate students, of whom I was one, will never forget his sly smile and the twinkle in his eye as he showed us how simple protoplasm really was!

Roland Thaxter, combining his mother Celia's aesthetic temperament with the rigorous standards of a man of science, gloried in working with fungi that had no conceivable economic importance, the Laboulbeniales, parasites on insects. He not only described the strange structures of these tiny organisms but illustrated his papers with exquisitely stippled drawings that were the despair of his students.

And there were many others. To use St. Paul's words, "and what shall I say more, for time would fail me" to speak of Charles E. Allen, Joseph C. Arthur, Douglas H. Campbell, C. J. Chamberlain, William Crocker, Benjamin M. Duggar, Alexander Evans, C. Stuart Gager, William F. Ganong, Albert S. Hitchcock, Lewis R. Jones, Ivey F. Lewis, Burton E. Livingston, George T. Moore, Erwin F. Smith, Gilbert M. Smith, Edgar N. Transeau, William Trelease, Karl M. Wiegand, and many more.

These are among the men and women to whom our thoughts go back with gratitude today as we formally

4

begin to retrace the history of the botanical past and the changes in emphasis and direction that it has undergone. Of our history we have every reason to be proud, and as we turn our faces to a future that seems so limitless and unpredictable, let us remember that our predecessors have given us a firm foundation upon which we can build with confidence. The chief significance of the past of botany, both here and in other lands, is not simply for itself but because it serves as prelude to a future that we hope will be even more productive and adventurous.

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR

Our good intentions to have this issue ready for distribution early in October have been thwarted by a combination of events that is not likely to be repeated. Not only were the President, the Past President, and the Secretary of the Botanical Society all in the Far East at the same time, but even after the President returned it was not possible to reach him by telephone since the long-distance switching terminal in Moscow, Idaho, had been completely destroyed by fire a few days earlier, and only emergency calls could be transmitted for about one week. Whether PSB business rates for "emergency" calls was not tested! A new feature that is being planned for future issues of the Bulletin will be headed (tentatively) as Guidelines to Botanical Teaching. These are intended to be up-to-date lecture outlines both for introductory and advanced botany courses. Each will be accompanied by limited bibliographies. In these days of paperbacks, and seemingly limitless publication of symposium and review papers, there is certainly no dearth of up-to-date information on a wealth of botanical topics; few of these, however, are written for the beginning student or for the instructor who is less than a specialist for many of the topics he must cover in a general course. A number of ideas for topics have already been received, but none is as yet in suitable form for publication. You are hereby invited to submit copy for the Guidelines, but should be reminded that permission will be needed for the publication in the Bulletin of any materials previously published by you or others.

Policy on Book Reviews—Revised

Some misunderstanding seems to have evolved from the statement under this heading in our last issue. The 1964 ad hoc committee's recommendation did not prohibit our publishing book reviews, but only observed that "long book reviews" are probably not the best use of our limited space. Henceforth as space is available, or until there is considerable objection, we shall list new books of interest with short notes as to their contents. Here are a few to begin our new "policy":

Beerman, W. et al. Cell Differentiation and Morphogenesis. North-Holland Publishing Co. and Inter-science Publishers, 1966. 209 pp. $9.75.

Papers presented at the fourth International Symposium on Cell Differentiation held at the Agricultural University of Wageningen (The Netherlands), April 26-29, 1965, are the contents of this volume. Three of the seven chapters are specifically about plants. These are: "Factors affecting differentiation of plant tissues in vitro," by R. J. Gautheret; "Leaves and buds: mechanisms of local induction in plant growth," by C. W. Wardlaw; "Hormonal regulation of plant development," by J. A. D. Zeevaart. W. Beerman's chapter on "Differentiation at the level of the chromosomes," although based largely upon work with salivary and lampbrush chromosomes, includes considerable information that should be of interest to botanists.

Beemster, A. B. R. and J. Dykstra, editors. Viruses of Plants. North Holland Publishing Co. and Interscience Publishers, 1966. 342 pp. $12.75.

This book presents the proceedings of a conference held at Wageningen, The Netherlands, July 5-9, 1965. Thirty papers presented during the course of five symposia plus five "free lectures" are the contents of this volume. The ideas presented in this book are effectively coordinated by both an author and a subject index.

Dawson, E. Y. Marine Botany. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. 1966. 371 pp.

This is the definitive presentation in English of the field of marine botany. At about the time that this book began to be distributed its author met his death from drowning while collecting algae in the Red Sea. Dr. Dawson will long be remembered for this distinguished treatise as well as for his earlier books and papers about algae and cacti.

Jensen, W. A. and L. G. Kavaljian, editors. Plant Biology Today, 2nd Edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. 1966. 2 08 pp. (paperback)

The second edition of this compendium, like the first, is a collection of symposium papers sponsored by the A.A.A.S. and the Botanical Society. The first five chapters of the second edition bear the same titles and are by the same authors as in the first edition, but each has been revised to various degrees and a selected list of references, not to be found in the first edition, now concludes each chapter. The second edition has six additional chapters, and all except the last of these has a listing of references. Chapter titles and authors are as follows: "Molecular botany," J. Bonner; "The problem of cell development in plants," W. A. Jensen; "Photosynthesis," L. Bogorad; "The measurement of time in plants," B. M. Sweeney; "Translocation: the movement of dissolved substances in plants," F. B. Salisbury; "Biochemical methods in systematics," R. E. Alston and B. L. Turner; "Some recent developments in our understanding of pteridophyte and early gymnosperm evolution," H. N. Andrews; "Electron transport systems in plants," W. D. Bonner, Jr.; "Cultural and physiological aspects of the lichen symbiosis," V. Ahmadjian; "Modern research on evolution in the ferns," W. H. Wagner, Jr.; "Phytochrome and the red, far-red system," B. Bonner.

5

Patrick, R. and C. W. Reimer. The Diatoms of the United States (exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii), Volume 1. Monograph 13 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 700 pp. $18.50.

Approximately 650 species of diatoms are covered in the first treatise, in English, of the diatoms of the United States including family, genera and species keys and complete descriptions.

NEWS AND NOTES

Two members of the Botanical Society have. been appointed as 1966-67 National Lecturers for the Society of the Sigma Xi and the Scientific Research Society of America, as follows:

Dr. Kenneth V. Thimann of the University of California, Santa Cruz, will speak on the topic, "Tropisms; The Responses of Plants to Light and Gravity." His schedule is as follows: Arizona State University, October 31; New Mexico State University, November 1; Texas Christian University and Arlington State College, November 2; University of Texas and Central Texas RESA, November 3; Sam Houston State College, November 4; Louisiana State University and Southern University, November 7; Southern Regional Research Laboratory RESA and Louisiana State University in New Orleans, November 8; East Texas State University, North Texas State University, and Texas Women's University, November

9. University of Arkansas Medical Center, November 10; University of Oklahoma, November 11.

Dr. W. Gordon Whaley of the University of Texas, Austin, will speak on the topic, "The Cell and Its Components in Growth and Development." Dr. Whaley's schedule is as follows: Southern Michigan and Whirlpool RESA, October 31; Michigan Technological University, November 1; Ford Motor RESA, Wayne State University, and Wyandotte RESA, November 2; University of Michigan, November 3; Wittenberg College, November 4; Denison University, November 7; Wooster Ohio, November 8; Kent State University, November 9; Indiana State University, November

10. DePauw University and Wabash College, November 11.

The International Association for Plant Physiology has pre-pared an International Directory of Plant Physiologists associated with its fifteen constituent national organizations. Copies may be purchased for $1.00 from the Secretary-Treasurer, Professor Arthur W. Galston, Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520.

Proceedings of a Conference on Drainage for Efficient Crop Production, held in Chicago, Illinois, December 6-7, 1965, and of which the Botanical Society of America was one of the sponsors, have been published by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. Twenty-three papers from four sessions are included: I—Drainage Requirements, II—Characterizing Soil Properties for Drainage Design, III—Materials and Methods, and IV—Design Criteria. It should be of interest to botanists, particularly those in plant physiology and applied fields. The Proceedings may be obtained from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Saint Joseph, Michigan 49085, at a cost of $5.00.

Index Nominum Genericorum Project

The Index Nominum Genericorum project was established at the 8th International Botanical Congress, Paris, 1954, following passage of a resolution proposed by the taxo-

nomic section. The lack of a complete index of validly published generic names had, until then, led to the publication of a great number of illegitimate later homonyms. This led to further burdening of the literature because of subsequent necessary name changes. Without an index, avoidance of such homonyms involved an enormous waste of time in searches through the appropriate literature.

Since 1954, the project to prepare an Index Genericorum has been based in Utrecht, Netherlands, and has been carried on under the auspices of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. A grant has just been awarded to the Association, through its regional treasurer, Dr. Richard S. Cowan, by the National Science Foundation to support activities leading to the completion of the project within the next three or four years. Quarters are being made available to house the staff of botanical bibliographers in the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Botany, in Washington, D.C.

The bibliographic work is being directed by Mrs. Ida K. Langman, who is working in conjunction with Dr. J. Lanjouw, general editor, and Dr. F. A. Stafleu, technical editor, both of whom will remain in Utrecht. Mrs. Lang-man, who comes from Philadelphia, is the author of A Selected Guide to the Literature on the Flowering Plants of Mexico, which was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in December, 1964. In August, 1965, this work was selected to receive the Oberly Memorial Award, granted by the References Services Division of the American Library Association for the best bibliography submitted in the field of agriculture and the related sciences in 1963-1964.

Minutes of the Business Meeting, Botanical Society of America

University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

August 15, 1966

1.

The meeting was called to order by President Bold at 11 a.m. in Room 29 of the Business and Public Administration Building. Approximately 125 members were present during the meeting.

2.

Copies of the minutes of the Business Meeting of the Society at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, on August 16, 1965, were provided to the members present, and were approved as presented.

3.

In the absence of Secretary Starr, and in accordance with the Bylaws of the Society, the President presented the names of those on the second nominating ballot who stood in the top three places as a result of the balloting in which 1467 votes had been cast. A notarized tabulation of the balloting had been prepared by Mrs. Laura Lee Terrell, secretary to Dr. Starr. These candidates, listed in order, with the highest in each category first, were as follows:

6

Member of the Editorial Committee

American Journal of Botany   Program Director

William L. Stern   C. Ritchie Bell

Barbara F. Palser   Janet Stein

Henry N. Andrews, Jr.   S. N. Postlethwait

A motion was made, seconded, and carried unanimously, that the candidates with the highest number of votes in each category be elected. The officers for 1967, therefore, are:

President:   Ralph Emerson

Vice-President::   Arthur W. Galston

Ed. Committee;   William L. Stern

Program Director:   C. Ritchie Ball

4.

In the absence of the Secretary, the President presented for consideration the proposed amendments to the Bylaws which had been duly circulated by mail to the membership along with the second nominating ballot. These amendments were considered one at a time and after brief discussion of each, the following amendments were approved:

Article U.

1. Delete "and" before (e), substitute comma for period after "retired members," and add: (f) sustaining members. Add section (f) as follows:

(f) Sustaining Members. Any commercial organization may apply for sustaining membership in the Society by filing with the Treasurer an application in writing, together with payment of annual dues amounting to $250.00. Sustaining members shall receive the publications of the Society, shall have the privileges of active members except that of the vote and that of holding office in the Society, and shall be entitled to 10% discount on advertising rates in the journal.

Article III. Officers

1. First sentence shall read:

The officers of the Society shall be:—the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Program Director, the Editor-in-Chief and the three elected Editors of the American Journal of Botany, the Business Manager of the Journal, and the Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin.

Second sentence:—No change. Third sentence shall read:

The President and Vice-President shall serve each for one year; the Secretary and Treasurer, and the Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany each for five years; the Editors (other than the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Botany and Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin) each for three years, one to be elected each year; the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Botany and the Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin each for five years; the Program Director shall serve for three years.

Article IV. Election of Officers

Article IV shall read:

1. All officers named in Article III except the Editor-in-Chief and Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany, and the Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin shall be elected by the members of the Society according to the following procedures:

1. In the autumn of each year, the President shall name an Election Committee of five members to consist of the Secretary and four appointed members. The term of service for appointed members of this committee shall be four years, one new member being appointed each year. The senior appointed member shall serve as Chairman.

2. Soon after its appointment, this Committee shall canvass by mail each voting member of the Society for nominations for such offices as must be filled that year from the following:—President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Program Director, and an Editor of the American Journal of Botany.

3. The Election Committee shall prepare a slate of four names for each office to be filled as follows: To the names of the two persons receiving the highest numbers of votes in the member canvass for nominations, the Committee shall add two more names of its own selection. Consent to serve, if elected, shall be obtained from all nominees. Election by mail ballot shall be carried out by the Committee at that time each year which proves most expedient in the overall program of the Society. The Committee shall be responsible for opening and tallying the ballots. That candidate for each office who receives the largest number of votes shall be recognized as elected by the Committee. The results of the election shall be reported by the Committee to the President who shall at once notify each candidate of his election and invite him as an incumbent officer to attend the annual meeting of the Council. The Secretary shall make known promptly to the members of the Society the results of the election.

Article IV.

2. The selection of the Editor-in-Chief or the Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany, or of the Editor for the Plant Science Bulletin shall be the responsibility of the Council. To fill each vacancy in the above offices, imminent or actual, the President shall appoint a Committee consisting of the incumbent Editor-in-Chief as Chairman and two other members. Confirmation of the candidate selected by the Committee by the Executive Committee of the Council shall be required.

Article VI. The Council

1. Sentence 1. The Council shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Program Director, Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Botany, Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin, Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany, the presiding officer of each section or other representative selected by the Section for such purpose, and three past Presidents of The Society, and at intervals, the retiring Secretary.

Article XI. General Prohibitions

Notwithstanding any provision of the Constitution or By-laws which might be susceptible to a contrary construction:

1. The Society shall be organized exclusively for scientific and educational purposes.

2. The Society shall be operated exclusively for scientific and educational purposes.

3. No part of the net earnings of The Society shall or may under any circumstances inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

4. No substantial part of the activities of The Society shall consist of carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.

5. The Society shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of a candidate for public office.

6. The Society shall not be organized or operated for profit.

7. The Society shall not

1. lend any part of its income or corpus, without the receipt of adequate security and a responsible rate of interest to;

2. pay any compensation, in excess of a reasonable allowance for salaries or other compensation for personal services actually rendered, to;

7

3. make any part of its services available on a preferential basis to;

4. make any purchase of securities or any other property, for more than adequate consideration in money's worth from;

5. sell any securities or other property for less than adequate consideration in money or money's worth to; or

6. engage in any other transactions which result in a substantial diversion of its income or corpus to any officer, member of the Council or substantial contributor to The Society.

The prohibitions contained in this subsection (7) do not mean to imply that The Society may make such loans, payments, sales, or purchases to anyone else, unless such authority be given or implied by other provisions of the Constitution or Bylaws.

Article Xll. Distribution on Dissolution

Upon dissolution of The Society, the Executive Committee shall distribute the assets and accrued income to one or more organizations as determined by the Executive Committee, but which organization or organizations shall meet the limitations prescribed in Sections (1)-(7), Article XI immediately preceding.

The proposed amendment to Article VII concerning the American Journal of Botany was not approved, pending restudy of the editorial function of the Journal by the present Editorial Committee and the Council.

5. Dr. A. J. Sharp, immediate past President, as Chairman of the Committee on Corresponding Members, presented four names in nomination. These names together with the citations follow.

Professor Hans Burstrdm of the University of Lund, Sweden, founder and editor of Physiologia Plantarvm. has such a breadth of Botanical interests that he might be considered a Botanist of the "old school." He has constructively and effectively contributed to many phases of Botany at the international, as well as the national, level. He is an enthusiastic and devoted teacher and has encouraged many students to become Botanists. In addition, he is one of the outstanding leaders in the field of plant nutrition and growth.

Professor Roger Jean Gautheret, Professor of Botany, at the University of Paris is one of the world's leading authorities in the field of plant tissue culture research. Among his special contributions are the establishment of plant tissue culture on a mass production basis, his studies of the water relations and mineral nutrition of tissue cultures, the effects of growth regulators on them, and their general physiology and histogenesis. He also pioneered in the use of tissue cultures in research in plant pathology. Professor Gautheret is the author of over 400 scientific papers, a cytology text, and two important books on plant tissue culture. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences and has been decorated by the French government. Professor Gautheret is an inspiring teacher and probably has trained more students than any other worker in this field.

Professor Harry Godwin's most widely known research has related the refined botanical history of East Anglia's fenlands to the changing climates and sea levels of postglacial time. His leadership has enhanced the already great reputation of Cambridge University's Botanical School. There Godwin's hearty collaboration with geologists, archeologists and many others has instilled excitement in his institute for Quaternary studies. Breaking across boundaries between disciplines and between nations has dispatched that excitement around the world. Professor Godwin has met the growing demands upon his time as a statesman of science, while extending, instead of losing, his first-hand participation in research and inspiring teaching.

Dr. Otto Schi.iepp, associated with the University of Basel in Switzerland, is best known for his fundamental contributions to developmental anatomy during the past forty years. His classic monograph on plant meristems has influenced the work of generarions of anatomists. Dr. Schiiepp introduced the use of mathematical analysis to the structure and growth of meristems. He originated the graphic "schemata" now commonly used to depict the distribution of growth and the displacement of cell lineages derived from the shoot apex. His innovations have given morphology a quantitative dimension which was largely lacking before his time.

After appropriate motion, all four were elected unanimously to corresponding membership.

6. The Business Manager, Dr. L. J. Crockett, briefly re-ported on the financial condition of the American Journal of Botany. He stated that plans were underway to increase the size of the issues to 130 pages each during 1967. He is planning to poll the membership regarding a proposal to make page charges for all pages of all articles instead of the present excess pagination charges.

The interim report of the Business Manager and the proposed budget for 1967 for the American Journal of Botany were discussed and approved by the membership. (Copy of the approved Budget is filed with the Secretary.)

7. Dr. David Bierhorsr, Cornell University, presented a proposed budget for the Society which had been prepared by the Treasurer, Dr. H. P. Banks, who was absent in Europe. It was pointed out that the Society is continuing to operate at approximately a $1,000 loss each year and that this is depleting our reserves. Because of increasing costs of clerical help, supplies, section expenses, and postal rates, it is probable that members of the Society will face a dues increase in 1968.

The President explained that the Council recommended that the Society budget and hold in escrow, each year for the next three years, the sum of $700 as its contribution to the entertainment of foreign botanists who will attend the International Botanical Congress at Srattle in 1969. The Council recommended that this entertainment be in the form of a reception for foreign botanists, which reception would be hosted by the Botanical Society of America.

The Treasurer's Budget for 1967 (copy filed with the Secretary) was approved.

8. President Bold reported on a number of miscellaneous items which had been discussed or acted upon at the Council Meetings of the Society, as follows: (1) A new edition of the Career Booklet of the Society is in preparation. by a subcommittee of the Committee on Education, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Robert Page, Stanford University. A draft of the text for the new booklet is to be circulated among Council members for their suggestions and approval. (2) The Council approved a suggestion of the Treasurer that the category of student membership in the Society should be limited to four years. (3) The Committee on Education, largely through the efforts of Dr. Adolph Hecht, has prepared an impressive "Guide to Graduate Study in Botany for the United States, 1966." This 48-page booklet is available at $3.00 per copy and may be obtained through the office of the Secretary of the Botanical Society of America. Receipts from the sale of this publication will be held in escrow with a view to updating it periodically. (4) The Editor-in-Chief and Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany have plans which they expect to implement promptly in an effort to reduce quickly the present backlog of manuscripts awaiting publication in the American Journal of Botany.

8

9. Dr. William Jacobs raised a question regarding the present pattern of AIBS meetings and proposed that the Society not always meet with AIBS. Although it was voted to meet with AIBS at Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, in 1967, it is probable that the membership will be polled through the initiative of Drs. Jacobs and the newly elected Program Director, Dr. C. Ritchie Bell, regarding the pleasure of the membership concerning the meetings of the Society. It was pointed out that AIBS is currently planning two small meetings, the first in June, 1967 at the University of Maine on the topic of 'Development" and a second in 1968 in Utah, the topic to be "Environmental Biology."

10. The following resolution, prepared by a committee chaired by C. J. Alexopoulos, was presented by Dr. Ian Ross and adopted:

"The Botanical Society of America is grateful to the administrative offices of the University of Maryland, to the staff of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and to its local representative, Dr. R. A. Patterson, for the arrangements and facilities provided for the 1966 meeting."

Upon motion duly seconded and approved, the meeting adjourned at 12:09 p.m.

These minutes are to be published in an early fall issue of the Plant Science Bulletin. Corrections or additions should be reported to the undersigned who gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Dr. Shirley Tucker who served as recorder because of the absence of Secretary Starr.

Respectfully submitted, Harold C. Bold President

Minutes of the Dinner Meeting, Botanical Society of America

The University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland August 17, 1966

The annual "Dinner for All Botanists" sponsored by the Botanical Society of America was held in the Main Ball-room of the Student Union at 6:30 p.m., August 17, 1966. This room held only 456 dinner guests so that a number of people could not attend the dinner, but followed the proceedings through a public address system in the adjacent lounge.

The President welcomed members, friends, and distinguished guests and reported briefly on exchanges of correspondence he had had with three living retired members, namely, Dr. H. A. Gleason, Dr. Edgar W. Olive, and Dr. P. L. Ricker. Telegrams of greetings were dispatched to these retired members.

The President announced that four new corresponding members had been elected and read their citations. (See minutes of the Business Meeting.)

The following awards were presented to the recipients or their representatives:

The Cooley Award (of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists) : Dr. James M. Kane of the University of Wisconsin (Madison) for his paper entitled "Biosystematics of the genus Actaea (Ranunculaceae) in North America."

The Darbaker Award in Phycology: Dr. Richard D. Wood, Department of Botany. University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, for his monograph of the Characeae.

The Henry Alan Gleason Award: Dr. Philip Alexander Munz, world authority on Onagraceae. This award is made, in general, for the total contribution he has made to our knowledge of this family, and, specifically, because of his recent monumental treatment of the Onagraceae in North American flora.

The New York Botanical Garden Award: Professor Elso Barghoorn and Mr. William Schopf, Harvard University, for their contributions, several of which were published in Science during the past year, dealing with the oldest known, structurally preserved plants.

Awards of Merit were made to: Dr. Robert H. Burris, Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin: distinguished as a teacher of plant biochemists and for his outstanding contributions to the role of nitrogen in plants. Dr. Henry N. Andrews, Jr., Department of Botany, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut: original investigator in the field of paleobotany and author of several significant volumes on plant life of past ages. Dr. George F. Papenfuss, Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley, California: eminent investigator of the world's marine algae from the view-point of their comparative morphology, reproduction and systematic relationships.

The retiring President, Dr. A. J. Sharp of the University of Tennessee, presented a thought provoking address entitled "The Botanist as Scientist and Citizen." The dinner meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. and was followed by an informal gathering in the banquet hall.

Harold C. Bold

President

Two Memoranda from the Business Manager, American Journal of Botany

1. Proposed New Page Charge Policy

The Council of the Botanical Society of America, Inc., at its August, 1966, meeting at the University of Maryland considered a proposal of the business manager of the American Journal of Botany to (1) abolish the present excess pagination charges and (2) institute a voluntary charge of 830 for every page published in AJB, commencing with the January, 1967 issue.

The page charge would be levied after a paper has been accepted for publication and would not in any way whatsoever influence the publication of any paper. Each author would receive a request to honor the voluntary charge or any part of it, after acceptance of his paper. The assumption is that botanists with grants or at institutions which support publication will pay the charges. Many authors, publishing in a variety of scientific journals, are already familiar with this type of charge, as a number of well known botanical publications levy such charges (e.g.,

9

Plant Physiology, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Mycologia, Economic Botany).

The number of scientific journals adopting a policy similar to what we propose is growing. Granting agencies and many institutions have begun to realize that publication is an increasingly expensive proposition and support for scientific journals is required. Considering the original investment required to create a single page of a scientific paper (from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars) the publication of such studies at less than $50 per page is hardly excessive.

For private, relatively small scientific societies to publish journals is becoming more and more difficult. The mounting costs and the mounting volume of manuscripts each work against the other. Fundamental support for AJB comes from institutional subscribers not from the Society (dues payment to AJB supports all activities for about 2.5 months per year).

This new plan, if approved, will aid AJB to continue its expansion, to keep its quality, and to aid its editor with his mounting work load. Editing AJB today involves about 1.5 times the amount of work of a decade ago (ignoring 1956, a special anniversary year) and soon will involve about twice as much editing. This is asking a very great deal of editors who are usually scientists with teaching, research, -and administrative, as well as family responsibilities.

Though not immediately envisioned, the day may arrive when privately published journals will have to receive outright public support over and above tax freedom and page-charge allotment in grants. Indeed, in a decade or two it is perfectly possible for the societies to find it too costly, and the members too slow a method for reporting their scientific results. Getting published early, before one's work is obsolete, and getting to the airport in less time than it takes to jet across the country are two modern problems which will have to be solved soon.

Please send your views on the proposed new page charge policy to reach the Business Manager, Dr. Lawrence J. Crockett, The City College, New York, N. Y. 10031, on or before December 5, 1966.

2. New Cover for AJB

In August, 1966, the Council of the Botanical Society and the Editorial Board of AJB approved a design for a new cover proposed (but not designed) by the business manager. You will see it on the first issue of the expanded 1967's volume. The cover paper will be light green, over-printed in dark green. The word BOTANY will receive emphasis, appearing in large, light-green letters surrounded by a solid, dark-green oblong place near the top of the cover. It is hoped that the new cover will be more attractive and present a better image than does the old one.

AJB will contain approximately 130 pages (including advertising) as of January, 1967. The increased page number will be supported by an increase of three dollars in the cost to institutional subscribers.

A backlog of papers has built up over the last two years, and the publication block which they represent will be overcome by publishing a "giant" issue (probably the

Nov.-Dec. issue in 1966). The Journal's reserve funds will be used to cover the cost of this special issue.

The American Journal of Botany is financially sound and in the black, but must constantly face increasing costs, increasing volumes of papers, quality improvement problems, and, therefore, plans must be created and activated which will constantly increase the amount of money avail-able to run the Journal.

Lawrence J. Crockett, Business Manager, AJB

Personalia

The Smithsonian Institution has appointed Dr. Edward S. Ayensu to the position of Associate Curator in the Division of Plant Anatomy, Department of Botany. Dr. Ayensu has recently completed doctoral studies with C. R. Metcalfe at Kew and the University of London, and will continue his research on monocot anatomy and phylogeny.

Dr. George Dehnel of the College of San Mateo has received a one-year appointment as Scientist-in-Residence at the U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco. This is the 13th such appointment since the Scientist-in-Residence program was started in 1960. Dr. Dehnel will be working with Dr. B. E. Vaughan, Head of the Biophysics Branch, on the uptake by foliage leaves of radionuclides from the atmosphere.

Bohumil Nemec 1873-1966

The death of Dr. Bohumil N6mec, Professor Emeritus of Charles University, Prague, on April 7, 1966, at the age of 93 has terminated the career of an outstanding Czech botanist in research, scholarly writting, and dedicated teaching.

Professor Nemec was born in Prasek near Novy Bydov, Bohemia, March 12, 1873. He was educated at Charles University, but visited many foreign universities, too. He began his career as zoologist at the Department for Comparative Anatomy and Embryology of Professor F. Vejdovsky; in 1895 he transferred to the Botany Department and became Assistant of Professor L. Celakovsky; in 1899 he was appointed Docent and in 1903 Professor of Plant Anatomy and Physiology at Charles University. He founded here the Department for Plant Anatomy and Physiology, the parent of all similar younger institutions in Czechoslovakia, and was its chairman until 1939 when he re-tired. After World War II he was also, for some years, Chairman of the Plant Physiology Department at Comenius University, Bratislava. During his active career that lasted over 40 years and after his retirement he educated many pupils not only in plant cytology, anatomy, and physiology, but also in genetics and microbiology. He edited Studies from the Plant Physiological Laboratory of Charles University (1923-1937), and since 1959 the quarterly Biologia Plantarum, published by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

Professor Nemec himself or later with his collaborators studied many problems in plant cytology, anatomy, and physiology, using very different plant material (bacteria, Cyanophyta, algae, fungi, and higher plants). His first accomplishment was the use of zoological micro-

10

technique in botany, but he also worked out a number of new methods in microtechnique (see e.g., Botanical Microtechnique, 1962, written in Czech), and chiefly ex-tended cytology to the experimental field. Professor Nemec observed that statolith starch grains are normally present in geotropically sensitive organs, and that they tend to congregate on the lower sides of the cells; he explained it as an indication that they are concerned in geotropic perception (statolith theory, 1901). He was one of the first who induced polyploidy artificially (1904). Complete results of his cytological research, from the first decade of this century, was published as a book entitled Das Problem der Befruchtungsvorgdnge and andere zytologische Fragen (Berlin, 1910) that may serve as an ex-ample of his numerous publications, very often cited in the foreign literature.

A theme to which Professor Nemec returned several times was regeneration (cf. Abdo-ha/dens Handbuch der biologischen Arbeitsmethoden, 11/2, 801-838, 1923). He focused his attention also on experimental morphology, galls (cecidia), phytopathology, and experimented in the physiology of growth, irritability, and tropisms. He further dealt with plant ashes, chiefly in regard to elements which they contain in small amounts (reports on gold and other microelements). Finally he wrote many papers on the history of botany and of biology as a whole, and manuals for his students.

Professor Nemec received many honors in recognition of his work in Czechoslovakia, as well as in foreign countries (e.g. Dr. honoris causa of Charles University, Member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Member of the Linnaean Society, Chairman of the Conference on Microelements, Harpenden 1947, Chairman of G. Mendel Memorial Symposium, Brno 1965, etc.).

He will long be remembered by his younger colleagues, students, and friends for his many services to his fellow-men and the advancement of knowledge. "Gladly did he live and gladly die ..." (R.L. Stevenson).

Zd. Cernohorsky

Charles University

P. Maheshwari FRS 1904-1966

In the sudden demise of Professor Panchanan Maheshwari on May 18, 1966 the world lost an eminent botanist. He was 62.

He was born November 9, 1904, schooled in his home town of Jaipur, graduated from the University of Allahabad (B.Sc. 1925; M.Sc. 1927), and qualified for the D.Sc. in 1931. He began his teaching career in 1928 at Allahabad, and later served several other universities in different capacities. In 1949 Professor Maheshwari was invited by Sir Maurice Gwyer, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi, to head the Department of Botany, which he did till his last day.

Professor Maheshwari's chief interest was plant morphology and particularly the embryology of seed plants on which he carried out intensive research. His book An Introduction to the Embryology of Angiosperms (McGraw-Hill, 1950) is a standard reference text the world over. In 1956 Professor Maheshwari ventured into a new vista, namely, physiological embryology, and soon discovered the vast application of tissue and organ culture technique to embryology. At his hands embryology grew rapidly into an experimental science and received worldwide recognition. Of his works which stimulated extensive research both in India and outside, those on embryology in relation to taxonomy, the life-history of Gnetum, and test-tube fertilization in flowering plants are noteworthy. He not only devised the technique of test-tube fertilization, but out-lined its promising applications to overcoming the barriers to sexual incompatibility in angiosperms. He continually encouraged his students to make contributions which would leave an impact on contemporary knowledge. Experimental investigations of his pupils on the endosperm of angiosperms are illustrative. Classical embryologists considered the angiosperm endosperm a maimed tissue and to lack morphogenesis. Work done in Maheshwari's laboratory has provided overwhelming evidence for the active morphogenic expression of the endosperm. Through his unmatching abilities he organized many all-India symposia and a UNESCO-sponsored International Symposium on "Plant Tissue and Organ Culture" (December 1961) . So great was his tenacity of purpose that he not only edited but also published the proceedings of all of the symposia within a short period after their conclusion. In addition to embryology he was vitally active in several other branches of plant science, and made significant contributions to economic botany and anatomy._ Names of more than half a dozen taxa ranging from microbes to angiosperms (to name only a few: Panchanania jaipuriensis, a hypomycetous fungus; Isoetes panchananii, a new species of quill-worts; Maheshwariella bicornuta, a compressed seed from the lower Gondwanas of India; and Jatropha maheshwarii, a new member of the spurge family) commemorate his keen interest in botanical research of all kinds. The broad spectrum of botany he portrayed made him welcome in laboratories of many lands.

Professor Maheshwari was also a facile speaker and an able administrator, but above all he was a teacher of capital caliber. His close associates can recall many anecdotes about his prodigious memory and punctuality. He had an enviable faculty for diligence, and tireless enthusiasm al-ways distinguished him. He was contagiously active, but most of all his interest was in his pupils. The professor acted as a magnet for many students, and when they be-came attached to him, he radiated a feeling of paternal warmth; he had a penetrative effect on every important aspect of their welfare and progress. Even after the students left him upon completion of Ph.D. training, the professor kept in constant touch with them and bestowed his encouragement through kindly acts rather than mere oral best wishes. Professor Maheshwari's method of working reflected his extraordinarily strong will. He was a man of precision and condemned substandards forthright. He had a rough exterior and an outstanding intolerance for inefficiency. Nonetheless, those who knew him well soon discovered that his annoyances were evanescent, but they always left an uplifting impression on them. Although it was difficult to win his appreciation, yet no good job remained unrecognized by him.

Professor Maheshwari was never complacently satisfied

11

with his vast collection of botanical materials—be it exotic specimens, microscopic slides, transparencies, or literature. He generously and very appreciatively shared their use with his students, colleagues, and associates

In view of the increasing research output in botany in India Professor Maheshwari did not lose time to realize, as early as 1950, the necessity of a journal truly international in character to disseminate knowledge. His unflinching efforts bore fruit; the journal Phytomorphology, presently in its 16th volume, was first issued in 1951 as the Official Organ of the International Society of Plant Morphologists. Of this Society he was the Founder-President, and of the journal the Founder-Editor.

Many laurels came to Professor Maheshwari, both at home and from overseas. He was elected Fellow of several distinguished academies and institutes (among them the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), President or Vice-President or Secretary of several botanical organizations, and associate or honorary or corresponding Member of many learned societies (among them the Botanical Society of America) . The Birbal Sahni Medal of the Indian Botanical Society and the Sunder Lal Hora Memorial Medal awarded by the National Institute of Sciences of India are just two of the many coveted honors he received. With laurels came heavy responsibilities which took Professor Maheshwari the world over on many occasions and in many capacities—as UNESCO-sponsored Scientist, Member of Scientific Delegations, Visiting Professor, and as Chairman, Indian National Committee for Biological Sciences. He took his responsibilities very religiously and not as perfunctory duties. For him work was worship; he lived a karma-yogi. He held strongly positive views on reorientation of science education in our country and staunchly advanced the cause of biology. Conspicuous for his perennial service to botany and for his sustained contributions to plant embryology, Professor Maheshwari was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London in March, 1965. It was characteristic of him that his reception of these honors was often not known even to his immediate colleagues for quite sometime. Through the numerous letters of condolence people at home learn with a sense of pride that every one whom the professor wrote, met, or spoke to felt elated, and even those whom he never knew derived inspiration from others whom he had stimulated.

On May 8, 1966, Professor Maheshwari was scheduled to leave Delhi for a six-week visit to Japan and the U.S.A. But fate intervened. Instead of wishing him a warm send off, the staff and students of the Department of Botany spent a period of anxiety; he suddenly became infirm and was hospitalized for over a week. On the afternoon of May 18 death, who is no respector of hopes or desires, snatched him away, causing a great void in science that may never be adequately filled.

In Professor Maheshwari's passing away his pupils have been orphaned, his admirers have lost a sagacious friend, his wife an understanding husband, and his children an affectionately dutiful father. To me the demise of the professor is a loss of an ever-stimulating guru who had an obsession for imparting training and knowledge which invoked my inmost reverence and indebtedness for this stalwart in botany.

The heavens have become richer with such a noble acquisition.

N. S. Rangaswamy

University of Delhi

Virginius Heber Chase 18764966

The nationally-known naturalist, Virginius Chase of Peoria Heights, Illinois died on February 28, 1966. Although lacking even a high school education, Virginius Chase trained himself in botany, and became widely known for his contributions to the natural history of plants. The late Dr. Agnes Chase, Agrostologist of the Smithsonian Instinuion, was his aunt, and was influential in guiding his early attempts to identify plants. His collections numbering some 15,000 sheets covered areas from the mid-western United States, the South Dakota Badlands and Black Hills, Yellowstone Park, what is now Craters of the Moon National Monument, and into Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He contributed his collections to the University of Illinois, The Chicago (then Field Museum) Museum of Natural History, The Peoria Academy of Science and the United States National Herbarium. Plants named after him include Aster chasei, Bouteloua chasei and Xanthium chasei.

Virginius Chase's first job was as a railroad telegrapher. Later he built a grain elevator, operated a farm, worked in a wholesale grocery store, drilled farm wells, managed a grocery store, and worked as a freight handler, a checker, and a receiving clerk for the P and PU Railroad. He retired in 1951 after 28 years with this company.

A charter member of the Peoria Academy of Science, he served as its president in 1937. Other of his member-ships included the Illinois State Academy-of Science, the Illinois State Archeological Society, the Illinois State Historical Society, the Society for American Archaeology, and the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. He was active in Boy Scouts' affairs, serving as a committeeman and a Scout Commissioner. For a ten year period he was the examiner for all Scouts in his area taking examinations for the botany and the bird study merit badges.

Mr. Chase held an honorary Master of Arts degree from Kenyon College, awarded in 1949, and an honorary Doctor of Science, awarded in 1950 by Bradley University. Virginius Chase was married to Mary Erma Neal, who died in 1961. He is survived by one son, Ernest Chase of Pekin, Illinois, three grandchildren and two sisters.

12

The following article appeared in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 92, No. 4, and was reprinted in The Garden Journal, Vol. 15, No. 6. Larry Crockett urged the author to submit it for reprinting here in an effort to reach a still wider audience, and permission to do so has been obtained from the original publisher.

Lest We Forget

Jack Focht

On the occasion of his inauguration as second president of the Torrey Botanical Club in 1873, Dr. George Thurber looked forward to the day when his generation would have followed "the great botanist" into the hereafter, and younger botanists having joined the Club would rightly ask, "What manner of man was this whose name you bear?" He concluded that John Torrey's name was to be held in sacred trust by the Club in order to advance botanical science which Dr. Torrey "loved so much and for which he did so much."

Thus it becomes a matter of historical necessity that the Club be true to this trust, and raise nine hundred dollars to renovate and buy perpetual care for Dr. Torrey's grave at Long Hill Cemetery in Stirling, New Jersey.

Following a tip from Dr. John Small, I went to Stirling last June to locate the grave. I sent him the following note the morning after the discovery, "My search ended in a tidy little cemetery, but Torrey's grave is in the midst of the worst patch of poison ivy imaginable. The whole family is buried there. . . Torrey's two grandsons, his son Herbert and his wife Marie, Torrey's three daughters, and of course the Professor and his wife Eliza. The plot is completely overgrown, and wading around in the under-brush during a thunderstorm left me drenched, scratched, and covered with mosquito bites. The adventure was like finding some rare plant when no discomfort can hold one back."

Dr. Torrey died of pleurisy at his Columbia College residence on 50th Street, at 6 P.M., Monday, March 10, 1873. The funeral services were held on Thursday at 3 P.M. in the West Presbyterian Church on 42nd Street. His funeral notice observed that "the profuse offerings of flowers to mark affection for the dead were certainly never more appropriate." But poison ivy ninety-two years later is too great a botanical indignity to even label as irony.

On March 14th, the morning after the church service, his remains were interred in a rosewood coffin at Wood-lawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Years later when Dr. Small tried to locate the grave, cemetery authorities informed him that the body had been transferred to Stirling on April 29, 1873. It was this information that inspired my trip last June.

Returning to Stirling six months later on Nov. 3rd, I found the plot cleared, and big piles of blackhaw, sassafras, and greenbrier thrown to the side. Inquiry led me to Mrs. Emmett Herrmann, Secretary of The Long Hill Cemetery Association, who has been working with her husband to clear off the Torrey property.

Back in 1890, Doctor Torrey's son and grandson, Herbert and John Gray Torrey, were among nine local residents who met at the Torrey home to form The Long Hill Cemetery Association. Herbert served as the Association's first secretary, and following his example, Mrs. Herrmann has been working very hard at the same post trying to build a cemetery that Stirling can always be proud of.

Last year a perpetual care plan was set up to further the renovation of the cemetery, but there are no living, direct descendants of Dr. Torrey who could contribute to this plan. The Herrmanns have been doing the renovation themselves, and find it practically impossible to enlist volunteers to help in the work.

The Torrey family owns three plots totaling seventy-eight by thirty one feet. The perpetual care plan costs thirty-five dollars per grave, or three hundred dollars for each full size plot. Each of the Torrey plots could accommodate eighteen graves, and nine hundred dollars for the three plots seems like a very reasonable price.

There is much work to be done. Two stones are down, and one of them is broken. Dr. Torrey's monument is leaning and needs resetting. A dirt road was cut through one of the plots by a building contractor who needed a quick access to his development. This road should be closed off, and the gap through the plot relandscaped before it becomes an established thoroughfare. One plot ending at the top of the Erie-Lackawana Railroad embankment should be landscaped and screened with evergreens. There are also many roots and stumps to be grubbed out of the recently cleared ground before it can be planted with grass.

Two of the plots contain members of Dr. Torrey's daughter-in-law's family, but the whereabouts cif Mrs. Herbert Torrey's family, Snow and Albinola, are unknown. Torrey memorabilia may be in their possession, and immediate efforts should be made to locate them and ask for their permission and help in launching this project.

A pilgrimage to Stirling is in order. A work trip would be welcomed by the Cemetery Association. The Passaic River's banks, nearby farmland, and swampy woods beckon with flora. Afterwards, let us return and raise the nine hundred dollars.

GUIDE TO GRADUATE STUDY IN BOTANY
for the United States, 1966

Copies now available at $3.00 each, postpaid.

The postpaid price applies to surface mail, both domestic and foreign. If airmail shipment is requested please add 60 cents per copy for domestic mailings, $1.00 for Western Europe or South America, and $1.40 elsewhere (Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, etc.).

Order from: Secretary of the Botanical Society of America Department of Botany

Indiana University

Bloomington, Indiana 47401