PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

December, 1967   Volume Thirteen   Number Four

Arthur Johnson Eames, A Tribute

Carl L. Wilson
Dartmouth College

Always in the history of our science there have been those who stood above others because of their personalities, their intellectual attainments, their contributions to botanical science, their influence on others, or all of these. Certainly among such outstanding figures of the present must be numbered Professor Arthur J. Eames of Cornell, now in his eighty-sixth year.

Coming to Cornell in 1912, after undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard and travels in Australia and New Zealand, Dr. Eames became one of a group that, within a few decades, established Cornell as an important center for the study of botany in the United States. During the period of his active professorship numerous graduate students gathered around him. With some exceptions, their theses dealt with problems in floral anatomy. These investigations contributed greatly to a renewal of interest in the anatomical study of the flower initiated by Van Tieghem, Henslow and other Europeans in the 19th century. Most such earlier studies, however, were purely descriptive. Eames and his students, on the other hand, emphasized a broad, comparative point of view, using anatomical data, not only to add to our knowledge of the fundamental nature of the flower but also to further the solution of such problems in systematic botany as the limitation of t axa and the establishment of natural and phyletic relationships. These investigations demonstrated clearly that evidences of evolutionary modification are to be found in the internal structure of the flower. Among contributions by Eames and his students were clarification of the nature of the inferior ovary and studies on the Salicaceae, Urticales, and Juglandaceae that contributed to the overthrow of the EngIerian concept of the primitiveness of the Amentiferae. An early important paper by Eames was "The vascular anatomy of the flower with refutation of the theory of carpel polymorphism," published in American Journal of Botany, 1931.

But Professor Eames has been much more than a floral morphologist—his questing mind and love of plants have led him into many other fields—taxonomy and general anatomy, and particularly, comparative morphology of the vascular plants in the widest sense. In 1926 there appeared The Flora of the Cayuga Lake Basin, New York, by K. M. Wiegand and A. J. Eames, a local flora of some 500 pages and a model of what such floras should be. In 1925 (revised in 1949) there appeared the first of three books published by McGraw-Hill, Eames and MacDaniels' Introduction to Plant Anatomy. This may be regarded as the first modern textbook of plant anatomy, and it has had a great effect upon the teaching of that subject in America and abroad. Many institutions where the subject had been neglected now introduced courses because a suitable text-book had become available. Editions for Great Britain, the continent, and Asia, have been issued, and in 1960 the publishers sold the rights for translation into Serbo-Croatian.

Fames' second book, Morphology of Vascular Plants, Lower Groups, appeared in 1936, and like the first was unique in its field. During previous decades a large amount of information on fossil plants had accumulated, but never had this been brought together with information on related living forms into an integrated body of knowledge. The emphasis was upon comparative morphology and the establishment of phylogenetic relationships. This book has gone through twelve printings and has greatly influenced morphological thought, both in America and abroad. It was highly influential, for example, in the trend to abandon the obsolete group names Pteridophyta and Spermatophyte and to substitute names more appropriate for the major divisions of the vascular plants. As with the Anatomy, the text undoubtedly stimulated the introduction of courses in plant morphology. Subjects seldom flourish and acquire disciples unless there are adequate textbooks.

Further examples of Professor Eames' versatility and wide botanical interests are shown in the following publications. "Genesis and composition of peat deposits" (with others), Mein. Cornell Univ. Agr•ic. Expert Stat. 188, 1936; "Illustrations of some Lycopodium gamctophytes" American Fern Journal, 1942; and a series of six papers (1949-51) in Science and American Journal of Botany on the anatomical effects of synthetic growth substances used as herbicides. This last work was done while the author was a consultant to the U.S. Army Chemical Corps.

Professor Eames retired in 1949 at the age of sixty-eight, but seldom has this word been so meaningless. In 1953 he was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Sydney, and 1961-62 a visiting professor at the Pennsylvania State University. Following his retirement, he published a number of papers on such diverse topics as floral anatomy as an aid in generic limitation, the "new" morphology, the anatomy of the palm leaf, the "seed" and Ginkgo, the ovule and seed of Araucaria (with Mary H.

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Wilde), and the relationships of the Ephedrales. Then, in 1961, .in his eightieth year, appeared his third book, Morphology of the Angiosperms. No other botanist could have written this book, for it involved not only an extensive knowledge of the literature in the field but also a profound distillation of Professor Eames' own thinking and experiences in dealing with a group of plants to the study of which he has devoted much of his life. It will remain a classic for a long time to come. To those interested I call attention to the superb review of this book, including a tribute to Dr. Eames, by F. C. Steward in Nature, Vol. 192 (1961), 8-9.

Professor Eames has received many honors and held important offices in the Botanical Society; he was secretary (1927-1931), vice-president (1932), and president (1938). He has been a member of the editorial committees of American Journal of Botany, Annals of Botany, Botanical Review, and Phytomorphology. In 1941 he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was one of the first fifty members of the Society to receive a Certificate of Merit on the 50th anniversary (1956) of the founding of the Botanical Society of America. In 1956, also, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Glasgow. The Promoter's remarks in presenting Professor Eames for this degree are given below.

Mr. Chancellor

It is recorded as an earnest of the wisdom of Solomon not only that "he spake three thousand proverbs," but also that "he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." This biographical detail is symbolic of the majestic sweep of the science of botany, a science which is linked inseparably with man and his work. The interplay of nature's challenge and man's research may settle the fate of a million saplings; and the gardener who succumbs to the charms of a "Dorothy Perkins" may receive no encouragement beyond a closer acquaintance with the pharmacology of insecticides.

In this field of botanical knowledge, calculated to stir the sense of beauty, to awaken curiosity, and to strengthen feelings of reverence, Dr. Arthur Johnson Eames has worked with great distinction. More than half a century has passed since Dr. Fames was an undergraduate at Harvard. His early days as a teacher were spent in his own university and in traveling abroad. For thirty-six years he was associated with the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell—First in the junior role of instructor, then for twenty-nine years as head of the Department of Botany.' It is particularly gratifying that in the person of Dr. Eames we, in Glasgow, salute an emeritus professor of the famous University of Cornell; for between these two houses of learning there has been much coming and going. Dr. Fames has been president of the Botanical Society of America, President of the Section on Morphology at the International Botanical Congress, and for twenty-two years associate editor of that leading British journal, Annals of Botany. These are but a few of the many distinctions which proclaim the high regard in which he is held in the world of science.

Dr. Eames' publications include a classic monograph on the morphology of vascular plants, and a companion volume is in active preparation. A book runni)zg to some 500 pages —modestly described as "a memoir"—records researches conducted in collaboration with Karl M. Wiegand; and An Introduction to Plant Anatomy by Eames and Mac-Daniels has become the staple diet of students of botany throughout the world. It would thus be difficult to exaggerate the influence which Dr. Eames has had on teaching and research in plant morphology.

Mr. Chancellor, the sensitive layman respects a scientist who—at some inconvenience—pays due regard to ,the importance of semantics in everyday life. You will recall, sir, that in our youth we sang of a disconsolate student whose wish it was to 'hang his harp on a weeping willow tree': we must feel for Dr. Fames who had first to find a specimen of Salix babylonica. But with his fellow botanists, his sense of humour allowed hint to tempt providence by calling the forget-me-not Myosotis palustris semperflorens!-

Sir. I present Dr. Arthur Johnson Eames, one of the greatest living plant morphologists, and ask you, in the name of the senate, to confer on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,

Professor Eames' vast knowledge of plant life has impressed all who come into contact with him. This knowledge has been enhanced by his foreign travels, which have given him a cosmopolitan view of the vascular plants in general and the angiosperms in particular. His travels include three extended visits to Australia, two periods of residence at the Atkins Garden and Research Laboratory in Cuba, collecting in Samoa and South Africa, an exchange professorship at the University of Hawaii,

' The Promoter was mistaken. Dr. Lames was never head of the

Department of Botany.

'The following free translation may be helpful here. A marsh-

loving ever-blooming mouse ear.

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and extensive travels in Europe. His wide and deep know-ledge about plants has been freely shared. The numerous theses for advanced degrees which he supervised represent only a part of his contributions through others. In addition to his own former students, many others, at Cornell and elsewhere, have sought his counsel in the furtherance of their own writings or investigations, both before and after his retirement.

Professor Eames' life has been dedicated to teaching about plants and to productive scholarship. Botany, to him, has been not a vocation but a way of life. As a teacher, he was always clear and stimulating, and he neither talked down to students nor above their heads. He enjoyed teaching, and gave it his best efforts. To his students, undergraduate and graduate, he was a friend as well as mentor. He is interested in people, and has a great capacity for friendship. The warmth of his generous personality has caused him to be sought out wherever he goes. This fact was strikingly in evidence at one of the gatherings during the 9th International Botanical Congress (Montreal). Standing at some distance from him, I was impressed by the number of people, men and women, who converged toward him from all parts of the hall, just to greet him and shake his hand.

As Professor Eames looks back over his busy and productive years he has many reasons for contentment—his contributions to his science, the honors he has received, the numerous friends who cherish him, and the students who honor him—these things have not come to every man.

Thoughts on

Botany as a Profession

Robert M. Page Stanford University

The selection of a mate and the selection of a career are the most important choices most people are called upon to make. The selection of a mate is a problem that is shared by other animals, but choosing a career is a task that is exclusively human. The desire to influence this choice also appears to be deeply ingrained in our species. There are doubtless many reasons for this deep-seated desire of elder humans to have the young follow in their footsteps. Some elders would claim that their important work must be continued or that essential skills and traditions must be preserved. A cynic might be more inclined to suggest that by inducing a young person to follow his occupation, the elder builds his ego or hopes to achieve a sort of vicarious immortality. Perhaps from similar motives, professional societies and other groups desire to perpetuate themselves; hence, they attempt to influence the choice of a career by the young, and for this purpose they employ such devices as career pamphlets.

Botany as a Profession, a new pamphlet describing career opportunities in the plant sciences, has just been completed by the Committee on Education of the Botanical Society of America. This would therefore seem an appropriate time not only to announce the availability of this publication, but also to tell something of its background and objectives.

The predecessor of the new pamphlet was one called Careers in Botany, which was prepared about a decade ago by George S. Avery, Harriet Creighton, and others. 1 This booklet emphasized that botany is a diverse field, indicated opportunities for employment, and suggested training that would be desirable for one contemplating a career in plant science. Careers in Botany has served the Society well, and some 30,000 copies have been distributed over the years. As the supply neared exhaustion, the question of a new edition was referred to the Committee on Education, which undertook the preparation of a revised careers booklet as one of its projects.

The first step in the preparation of this booklet was to solicit advice from members of the Committee on Education and various other members of the Botanical Society. All of those consulted were of the opinion that Careers in Botany should either be replaced or revised to bring it up to date and make it more colorful. Several botanists suggested that a professional designer should be retained to supervise the lay-out and technical details of production. In addition to these general suggestions, those consulted contributed much helpful advice on design and content. Next, a rough draft was circulated to serve as a nucleus for the crystallization of specific ideas and comments. Finally, the text was rewritten, illustrations were assembled from various sources, and the material was placed in the hands of the designer.

In order to define the objectives of a careers pamphlet, some of the factors involved in selecting a career must be considered. Selection of a career is obviously a complex process, and the course followed by any individual is the resultant of many factors, but the most important of these is awareness. A person must be aware of the existence of a field before he can choose it for his vocation. Thus, the primary objective of a careers pamphlet should be to inform people of the existence of a field. A second objective should be to tell enough about the field to permit an individual to judge whether it has any appeal for him.

To perform its mission of pointing out the existence of a field to a potential convert, a careers pamphlet must attract his attention and hold his interest, but the way to this objective is beclouded by uncertainties about what is attractive to people at the age at which they are casting about for a vocation. For example, what colors appeal to them most? Do they prefer representational or abstract art work? Should designs or illustrations attempt to be cute or humorous? Should illustrations stress aesthetics or science? Should they show people or things? If motivational research has been done on these preferences, the results are doubtless closely-guarded industrial secrets.

The same sorts of uncertainties that apply to design apply also to writing, but in addition, there is the difficulty of communication between generations. It would be hazardous to attempt humor, for example, and nothing is more repellent than obsolete slang. Most young people are saturated with generalities, and they are suspicious of vagueness and uncertainty. Clarity is desirable, but anyone resents being "written down to".

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If Botany as a Profession is successful in attaining its primary objective of informing people of the existence of the field of botany, the credit must go to its designer, James M'Guiness. It is his work, after all, that will determine whether the booklet will be picked up and examined by potential botanists or by their advisers. M'Guiness has made the booklet distinctive and attractive in external appearance. Even its shape, which is almost square, is unusual. The cover design, a pattern of longitudinal and transverse sections of flowers alternating with mushrooms, all in bright colors, is printed on glossy, heavily-coated stock. Thus, in its shape, color, and texture, the booklet is so different from that of any other society or agency, that it is certain to attract attention. Moreover, it is unlikely that it will be discarded or misplaced by guidance counsellors or teachers.

The photographs that illustrate the booklet were chosen for various reasons. A few, such as an enlarged photograph of a chickweed flower and a transverse section of oak wood, are purely decorative. Others, such as a fine electron micrograph of a portion of an onion root tip cell prepared by the freeze-etching technique, are of scientific interest as well as being aesthetically satisfying. Finally, four photographs on one page show people to emphasize that there really are positions for botanists in educational institutions, government agencies, and industrial organizations, and that they do different kinds of work.

Although the illustrations assist in approaching the second objective of a careers pamphlet, the text must assume the major part of the burden of telling an individual enough about the field of botany to enable him to determine whether it offers positions that are compatible with his interests, aptitudes, and aspirations. The text of Botany as a Profession, which consists for the most part of answers to a series of questions which might be posed by one inquiring about the field, attempts to tell what kinds of plant scientists there are, who employs them, and what kinds of work they do. It also provides information on salaries, opportunities for women, and the training required for various types of positions. Finally, a section is devoted to suggesting a few practical and purely scientific problems which remain to challenge the imagination and ingenuity of botanists of the future.

It is obvious that no brief career booklet, no matter how imaginatively designed or how skillfully written, can really give a prospective botanist a feel for the profession. To gain any real insight into what the field offers and what botanists do requires personal conversation with a member of the profession. The concluding paragraph of Botany as a Profession urges the reader to talk with a botanist, and suggests that he try to make an appointment with one by writing either to the head of the botany department at any college or university or to the director of a nearby experiment station or other botanical institution. Perhaps this general suggestion is not enough. It would be desirable to have a list of specific names of botanists in various parts of the country with whom prospective botanists could confer. This idea was discussed informally by some of the members of the Committee on Education, and it was agreed that it would be desirable to attempt to assemble such a list, which could be kept in the office of the Secretary of the Society to aid him in answering inquiries, and it might be possible to distribute mimeographed copies with Botany as a Profession.

I am therefore calling for volunteers. If any member of the Botanical Society who is willing to talk with prospective botanists will write me, I will be pleased to add his name to the list. Conferring with young people contemplating a career in plant science should not be time-consuming and it should be rewarding. The profession will welcome your help.

Copies of Botany as a Profession may be obtained from the Office of the Secretary, Botanical Society of America, Department of Botany, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401. One to three copies, no charge; more than three copies, 25 cents each.

NOTES FROM THE EDĪTOR

Dr. William L. Stern of the Department of Botany at the University of Maryland has graciously agreed to serve as editor during my absence on sabbatical leave this coming spring and summer. Since Bill was the previous editor he is well aware of both the problems and the pleasures of the job; please inundate him with such good copy for the next two or three issues that only the latter aspects of this assignment will be his lot. Articles for these issues, there-fore, should be sent directly to Dr. Stern.

This issue features the first of what we hope may become a series of tributes to distinguished living botanists. Although the number of persons we can honor in this way must necessarily be kept small, your nominations for future tributes are requested. The Council of the Botanical Society or a designated committee thereof will probably decide which persons are selected for recognition in these articles.

N. P. Badenhuizen, Chairman of the Department of Botany, University of Toronto (Toronto 5, Canada), has notified us of an opening in his department for a vascular plant taxonomist with an interest in data processing applications in herbarium procedures, and involving both teaching and research. The areas of taximetrics, floristics, and phytogeography will also be considered. We have not ordinarily published notices of position vacancies in the Bulletin, but I can see no reason not to carry short notices of this sort when space is available.

Phytochemical Section of the Botanical Society of America

At the August, 1967, meeting of The Botanical Society of America, the Council of the Society authorized the organization of a Phytochemical Section. The formation of a new section devoted to all aspects of the chemistry of plants seems particularly appropriate at this time because of the increasing emphasis on chemical approaches to a wide variety of biological problems. Investigations of the role of secondary plant constituents such as alkaloids, pigments, terpenes, phenolics, and macromolecules including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, in the

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growth and development of plants, have attracted the attention of an ever-increasing number of the members of the Society. The importance of chemical investigations in connection with genetics, physiology and systematics is already well established.

The new Phytochemical Section may (from time to time) arrange joint programs and symposia with the general, developmental, microbiological, systematic, and phycological sections. In addition, joint meetings between the PhytochemicaI Section and Phytochemical Society of North America will bring together for mutual benefit a vast spectrum of individuals interested in modern plant science.

The new section will hold an organizational meeting during the 1968 annual meeting of the Botanical Society for the election of officers including a chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary. In addition, a short Phytochemical program consisting of two main lectures is planned for the 1968 meeting.

Individuals interested in participating in organizing the Phytochemical Section should contact Dr. Tom J. Mabry, Department of Botany, The University of Texas at Austin, 78712.

Proposal for a Series of Two-Day Refresher Conferences in Basic Concepts in Botany

Teachers of general botany, actively involved in research, may find it difficult to read literature beyond the area of their research interests. Some areas in botany have advanced so rapidly in the recent years that one who has completed his requirements for the Ph.D. before 1960 may well be out-of-date to the point of doing a disservice to his students, unless his research interest is one in these particular areas. Since the future of botany depends not only on good, but also well-informed, students, the necessity of excellence in their education becomes a matter of concern to us all. The proposal below is offered as a practical way for achieving this goal, by making it possible for all to keep abreast of the developments in the major concepts in botany.

We propose that a two-day conference be held before each annual AIBS meeting at the location of these meetings. We suggest that a limited number of most important concepts in botany be considered at each conference (ten in a cycle of five years; to be determined by polling the membership of BSA).

We suggest that in such a conference participants considered to be authorities in these concepts be asked to share from their wisdom and experience whatever they think might help those who convey the concepts to sndents. We suggest that workshops or demonstration-laboratory type of sessions be included in these conferences as well as lectures and discussion. We think that the concepts should: be traced from their origin with emphasis on the present interpretation; be considered in light of the "lower plants" and the "higher ones"; be considered for several types of environmental situations; be related to changes within the cells.

To finance such a conference a registration fee of $10.00 could be charged of each participant. Grants would be sought to cover expenses beyond those met from this fee. Participants whose budgets could not stand the above fee, or the extended two-day per diem costs, could apply for help from this grant fund. It would be expected that participants would be attending the AIBS meetings anyway for self-improvement, and the refresher conference would be only a slight extra financial burden.

An example of subjects for one year might be "Morphocenesis and Reproduction." Authorities could be found to consider the concepts in lower plants, in higher plants, as controlled by genetics, as controlled by factors in the environments, as associated with changes in the components of the cell in strategic areas of the organism at critical times in ontogeny.

Another example for another year could be "Respiration and Photosynthesis." These could be considered as physical-chemical processes in an energy cycle, as associated with cellular components, whose change could be observed in electron-microscope studies, as controlled by factors in the external environment and by factors in other parts of the plants.

If we are to proceed with this proposal the Education Committee of BSA needs the information from the questionnaire below. Please send this to Professor Helena A. Miller, Assistant to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania 15219.

Questionnaire

Before proceeding with this proposal the Education Committee of the Botanical Society would like to have a sampling of opinion from the members of the Society. Any general suggestions you may have and,answers to the following questions are solicited:

1. Would you be interested in attending these conferences? If so, how frequently.... every summer they are held? Once in about five years? Every two or three years?

2. Would you be willing to pay your own way, or would you require a small grant? Would you be able to pay the proposed $10 registration fee plus living expenses?

3. What topics would you like to have covered, and who would you consider are among the best per-sons to handle each of these topics?

Person au a

B. L. Turner has replaced Harold C. Bold as Chairman of the Department of Botany at the University of Texas. Dr. Bold continues, of course, in his duties as Professor of Botany and Education. Two new members of the department as of September 1, 1967, are Guy Thompson, recently in the Department of Biochemistry in the Medical School at the University of Washington, as Associate Professor of Botany, and Clyde Smith, who recently completed requirements for the doctorate at Cornell Uni-

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vcrsity, as Faculty Associate. Professor Kenneth Smith of Cambridge University continues in his appointment as. Visiting Professor of Botany.

Lindsay S. Olive, who has for some time been Professor of Botany at Columbia University will join the faculty of the University of North Carolina on January 1, 1968, as Professor of Botany. Other recent appointments to the Department of Botany at the University of North Carolina include Helmut Lied). formerly of Stuttgart, Germany, as Associate Professor, and Clifford Parks, formerly of the Los Angeles Arboretum. as Assistant Professor. Edward Barry, Clyde J. Umphlert, and A. Domnas have recently been promoted to the rank of associate professor in the department. After a distinguished career of 45 years at the University of North Carolina, Kenan Professor John N. Couch's retirement became effective on June 30, 1967. Dr. Couch's international reputation as a mycologist has been recognized by his many honors, including member-ship in the National Academy of Science of the United States and of the National Academy of Science of India.

Between June 15 and August 13 of this past year Professor and Mrs. A. J. Sharp were accompanied by Dr. Zennoske Iwatsuki of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory (Nichinan. Japan) for extensive bryophyte forays in Alaska. Some 6000 collections were made.

John L. Smother. who recently received his doctorate in systematics at the University of Texas, has joined the staff of the Herbarium, Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley, as Assistant Research Botanist.

NEWS AND NOTES

Announcement of Darbaker Prize in Mycology for 1968

The committee on the Darbaker Prize of the Botanical Society of America encourages nominations for an award to be announced at the annual meeting of the Society at Columbus, Ohio, in 1968. Under the terms of the bequest, the award is to be made for meritorious work in the study of the algae. Persons not members of the Botanical Society are eligible for the award. The Committee will base its judgment primarily on the papers published by the nominee during the last two full calendar years previous to the closing date for nominations. At present, the award will be limited to residents of North America. Only papers published in the English language will be considered. The value of the Prize for 1968 will depend on the income from the trust fund but is expected to be about 5250. Nominations for the 1968 .award must be accompanied by a statement of the merits of the case and by reprints of the publications supporting the candidacy. The dead-line is June 1, 1968. Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Frank R. Trainor, Department of Botany, University of Connecticut. Storrs, Connecticut 06268.

Oceanographic Awards

Stanford Oceanographic Expedition 18 will commence April 3, 1968, from Guayaquil, Ecuador, and terminate June 16, 1968, at Monterey, California. During this period, the RV TE VEGA will study the shallow water benthos along the coast of the Eastern Tropical Pacific from northern Peru to southern Mexico. Intensive ecological and physiological studies will be conducted in selected areas and related to the geographic distribution of particular marine organisms. Applications for this Expedition will be accepted until January 1, 1968, and advance inquiries are encouraged. Applicants may be of either sex, must be research-oriented graduate students or "young professionals" in biology, should be in good academic standing, and in excellent physical and emotional health. The Expedition represents an intensive 15-unit graduate-level course in Biological Oceanography given at sea by a faculty of three (Drs. Donald Abbott, Stanford University; William Evans, University of Alberta; Richard Bovbjerg, University of Iowa). Ten NSF Awards covering subsistence, full tuition, and transportation to and from the vessel are available. Contact Dr. Malvern Gilmartin, Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, California 93950, for further information.

Ecosystems

"Ecosystems: Evolution and Revolution" will be the central theme for the first AIRS interdisciplinary meeting, which is scheduled to be held at the University of Wisconsin, June 16-20, 1968. Six societies will cooperate in these sessions; of greatest interest to botanists is the cooperation of the Ecological Society of America, the Society of the Study of Evolution, and the America Society of Limnology and Oceanography. In addition to the contributed papers two symposia are being organized, one on "The Process of Ecological Change," and the other on the topic, "Man and Nature." March 1, 1968. is the deadline for all contributed papers. Chairmen for the three societies mentioned above are Carl Monk. Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens 30601 for the Ecological Society, Herbert Baker, Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley 94720 for the Evolution Society, and Clifford H. Mortimer, Center for Great Lakes Studies, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53201 for the Limnology-Oceanography Society. The annual AIBS meetings will be held as scheduled at Ohio Stare University, September 3-7, 1968, and some of the societies participating in this interdisciplinary meeting will also hold sectional meetings at time of the main AIRS sessions.

Phorobiology Congress

The Vth International Congress on Photobiology will be held August 26-31, 1968, at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. The second announcement of the Congress is now available. It contains detailed information on the Congress and application forms for registration and presentation of papers. This announcement and further information may be obtained by writing to the Secretariat, Vth International Photobiology Congress, Argonne Nation-al Laboratory-202, Argonne, Illinois 60439.

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Irving Widmer Bailey (1884-1967)

The death on May 16, 1967, of Professor I. W. Bailey represents an irreplaceable loss to botanical science. Truly he was a "man for all seasons" because his broad interests, unique knowledge of plant structure, and mastery of many techniques were combined in research on such diversified subjects as the cytology and function of the vascular cambium, the physical and chemical organization of cell walls, the structure and evolution of tracheary elements, and the phylogcny of the angiosperms. In his latter years, Irving Bailey renewed his earlier efforts to illuminate the "abominable mystery" of the origin of angiosperms and in this connection was a pioneer in initiating comparative morphological studies on many members of the "Ranales." While he made no claim to have solved the central mystery of the ancestors of modern flowering plants, his clear, beautifully documented papers dealing with all phases of the anatomy of vegetative and reproductive structures in angiosperms will surely be a very significant part of the evidence which future palcobotanists and morphologists must use in their own efforts to interpret evolution.

Despite his failing health in recent years, Professor Bailey in 1960 began an intensive comparative study of the anatomy of the genera of leaf-bearing Cactaceae. Very shortly before his death, he had nearly completed the manuscript for the sixteenth paper in the series dealing with his studies on Pereskia, Pereskiopsis, and Ouiabentia. To the very end of his life, Irving Bailey was a true "practitioner" of botany.

During the period 1923-1926 it was my good fortune to carry on and to complete my graduate research at the Bussey Institution under Irving Bailey's guidance. I look back now at those formative years at Harvard with the grateful realization of how very much his wise counsel, high standards in research, and great personal integrity meant to me as a young man. We hear much debate and discussion today of ways and means for promoting "communication" between teacher and student Professor Bailey readily solved this "problem" simply by practicing the fine art of communication, i.e.. by giving generously of himself and of his vast knowledge of plants to all his students in accordance with their needs. On the other hand, his strong conviction of the importance of the early development of self-reliance by his graduate students would doubtless seem austere and "puritanical" in many quarters of "Academe" today. He never to my knowledge "assigned" specific papers which a graduate student should use in the preparation of his thesis. His viewpoint was much broader than merely "keeping up" with current literature, and he encouraged the acquisition of a "classical background" in the subject whenever possible. In my case, for example, he directed me to the superb library of the Arnold Arboretum with the remark that "probably" I would find articles pertinent to my graduate research "buried" in the bound volumes of the various European botanical journals. This suggestion at first was like trying to navigate a ship without a compass, but soon the real joy of personal discovery of basic articles in one's own field of interest justified the initial discouragement and all the labor. Certainly Professor Bailey drew the attention of all his students to the ancient virtues of independence and self-motivation!

Another facet of Irving Bailey's character which I consider pertinent to the present tribute concerns his opinion of the need for balance and cooperation in the scientific study of plants. This sensible outlook was fully illustrated in a paper analyzing the role of research in the development of forestry in North America. Although the brief excerpt which I will now quote was written nearly /0 years ago, I think it has special meaning today for those responsible for the organization of botanical research-groups or of departments of botany. Bailey remarks: "The compilation, codification and analysis of descriptive data and the formulation of valid correlations arc not only of great practical significance in the development of the biological arts, but are indispensable in the visualization and definition of those fundamental problems which biology seeks to solve. Nor should it be inferred that this work when well done is of an inferior intellectual quality. The descriptive method requires capabilities and disciplines which are by no means inferior to those used in the exact sciences. In fact, the successful employment of cumulative circumstantial evidence—e.g. Darwin and the Theory of Evolution—demands qualities which are rarer and often more finely discriminating than those employed in the exact sciences." One can only hope that Bailey's open-minded viewpoint will eventually be more widely adopted. particularly because of the obvious trend in recent years toward the elimination of organographic morphology and an almost exclusive preoccupation, in university botanical teaching and research, with the biochemical and ultra-structural aspects of plant cells.

Irving Bailey's long and distinguished career has unhappily come to an end, but it is some consolation to realize that his diverse contributions to botany for more than half a century have brought distinction to his name and to the science which he so significantly enriched by his labors.

Adriance S. Poster

University of California

Ellen Henry Took 1889-1967

Dr. Eben Henry Toole. a retired seed physiologist in the Agricultural Research Service. U.S. Department of Agri-culture, and a world authority on seed physiology, died Wednesday. August 2, 1967. at his home, 9227 Annapolis Road, Lanham, Maryland.

Dr. Toole was a native of Baraboo, Wisconsin. He did his undergraduate mud graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his Ph.D. in 1920. He was assistant botanist at the University of Wisconsin, Instructor at Kansas State University, and Assistant Plant Physiologist and Plant Pathologist at Purdue University during the period 1915 to 1919.

He joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1920 as head of research in the Division of Seed Investigations. He was transferred to the Crops Research Division in 1938 as Investigations Leader for vegetable seed investigations, a position he held until he retired in 1959.

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During the early years Dr. Toole played an important role in developing methods and rules for seed testing. He was an honorary member of the Society of Commercial Seed Technologists, receiving the Meritorious Award of the Association of Official Seed Analysts in 1959. He was on the executive committee of the Inter-national Seed Testing Association for many years and attended five ISTA Congresses.

Dr. Toole made important contributions to the physiology of seed storage and during the war organized extensive investigations of seed production.

Prior to and following his retirement Dr. Toole worked extensively in the field of light physiology of seed germination, and he participated in the experiments that led immediately to the discovery of phytochrome.

Dr. Toole was a collaborator in the Plant Physiology Pioneering Research Laboratory throughout his retirement. Immediately following his retirement he was a consultant with the Asgrow Seed Company for a few years. He was a member of the Botanical Society of America, the American Society of Plant Physiologists, the American Society for Horticultural Science, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the Washington Botanical Society, the Berwyn United Presbyterian Church, and the Cosmos Club. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of Sigma Xi.

H. A. Borthwick

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Botanical Society Committees (with expiration dates)

Committee on Corresponding Members*

Chairman: (1968) Ralph Emerson (1970), Harold C. Bold (1969) ; Aaron J. Sharp (1968).

Membership Committee*

Chairman: (1968) Richard C. Starr; Subcommittee Chair-men: Council Representative from the Geographical Sections.

Darbaker Prize*

Chairman: (1968) Frank R. Trainor (1970) University of Connecticut; Robert F. Scagel (1969) University of British Columbia; Richard D. Wood (1971) University of Rhode Island; Joyce Lewin (1972) University of Washington.

Merit Awards Committee*

Chairman: (1968) A. S. Foster (1968; Carlos O. Miller (1969); John N. Couch (1970). Ex officio: President.

* Standing Committees. New York Botanical Garden Award

Chairman: (1968) Henry N. Andrews; Robert M. Page, John G. Torrey, Harlan F. Lewis.

Education Committee*

Chairman: S. N. Postlethwait; Harriet B. Creighton, E. C.

Clebsch, R. B. Channell, Robert M. Page, Russell B.

Stevens, C. E. Taft, Richard Klein, Helena A. Miller.
Ex officiis: President; Secretary; Secretary Teaching Sec-

tion; Editor, P.S.B.; Rep. to AAAS Coop. Committee.

Election Committee*

Chairman: (1968) David Bierhorst (1968) ; C. C. Bowen (1969) ; Leonard Machlis (1970) ; Robert W. Lichtwardt (1971).

Conservation Committee*

Chairman: (1968) Hugh Iltis; Aaron J. Sharp, Richard Goodwin, John Thomson, Ourie Loucks.