A century of science in America

by Unknown

Such are the words with which the sagacious and far-sighted founder of the American Journal of Science and Arts, in his general introduction to the first volume, alludes to the study of plants. It is plain that the editor, embarking on this new enterprise, appreciated the attractions of this inviting field and sympathetically recognized the good work which was being done in it. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that he welcomed to the pages of his initial number contributions to botany.

Early Botanical Works.—The collections of dried and living North American plants, which had been carried from time to time to botanists in Europe, had been eagerly studied, and the results had been published in accessible treatises. Besides these general treatises, there had been issued certain works, wholly devoted to the American Flora. Among these latter may be mentioned Pursh’s “Flora” (1814) and Nuttall’s “Genera” (1818). There were also a few works which were rather popular in their character, such as Amos Eaton’s “Manual of Botany for North America” (1817), and Bigelow’s “Collection of the Plants of Boston and environs” (1814). These handbooks were convenient, and possessed the charm of not being exhaustive; consequently a botanist, whether professional or amateur, was stimulated to feel that he had a good chance of enriching the list of species and adding to the next edition.

The Early Years of Botany in the Journal.

At that time, the botanists had no journal in this country devoted to their science. Here and there they found opportunity for publishing their discoveries in some medical periodical or in a local newspaper. Hence American botanists availed themselves of the welcome extended by Silliman to botanical contributors to place their results on record in a magazine devoted to science in its wide sense. Specialization and subdivision of science had not then begun to dissociate allied subjects, and, consequently, botanists felt that they would be at home in this journal conducted by a chemist. Botanists responded promptly to this invitation with interesting contributions.

It is well to remember that the appliances at the command of naturalists at the date when the Journal began its service, were imperfect and inadequate. The botanist did not possess a convenient achromatic microscope, and he was not in possession of the chemical aids now deemed necessary in even the simplest research. Hence, attention was given almost wholly to such matters as the forms of plants and the more obvious phenomena of plant-life. In view of the poverty of instrumental aids in research, the results attained must be regarded as surprising.

In the very first volume of the Journal, bearing the date of 1818, there are descriptions of four new genera and of four new species of plants; certainly a large share to give to systematic botany. Besides these articles, there are some instructive notes concerning a few plants, which up to that time had been imperfectly understood. There are four Floral Calendars which give details in regard to the blossoming and the fruiting of plants in limited districts, a botanical subject of some importance but likely to become tedious in the long run. Just here, the skill of the editor in limiting undesirable contributions is shown by his tactful remark designed to soothe the feelings of a prolix writer whose too long list of plants in a floral calendar he had editorially cut down to reasonable limits. The editor remarks, “such extended observations are desirable, but it may not always be convenient to insert very voluminous details of daily floral occurrence.” It is convenient to consider by themselves some of the botanical contributions published in the first series of volumes of the Journal during a period of twenty years, the period before Asa Gray became actively and constantly associated with the Journal.

In systematic and geographical botany one finds communications from Douglass and Torrey (4, 56, 1822) on the plants of what was then the Northwest; Lewis C. Beck (10, 257, 1826; 11, 167, 1826; 14, 112, 1828) contributed valuable papers on the botany of Illinois and Missouri; there is a literal translation by Dr. Ruschenberger (19, 63, 299, 1831; 20, 248, 1831; 23, 78, 250, 1833) of a very long list of the plants of Chili; Wolle and Huebener (37, 310, 1839) gave an annotated catalogue of botanical specimens collected in Pennsylvania; Tuckerman (45, 27, 1843) presented communications in regard to numerous species which he had examined critically; Darlington (41, 365, 1841) published his lecture on grasses; Asa Gray (40, 1, 1841) gave an instructive account of European herbaria visited by him, and he contributed also a charming account (42, 1, 1842) of a botanical journey to the mountains of North Carolina. The most extensive series of botanical communication at this time was the Caricography by Professor Dewey of Williams College, presented in many numbers of the Journal; the first of these in 7, pp. 264–278, 1824. There were also descriptions of certain new genera, and species, and critical studies in synonyms.

Cryptogamic botany is represented in the first series of volumes of the Journal by L. C. Beck’s (15, 287, 1829) study of ferns and mosses, by Bailey’s (35, 113, 1839) histology of the vascular system of ferns, by Fries’ Systema mycologicum (12, 235, 1829), and by De Schweinitz (9, 397, 1825) and Halsey, who had in hand a cryptogamic manual. There are two important papers by Alexander Braun, translated by Dr. George Engelmann, one on the Equisetaceæ of North America (46, 81, 1844) and the other on the Characeæ (46, 92, 1844).

Vegetable paleontology had begun to attract attention in many places in this country, and therefore the translated contributions by Brongniart on fossil plants were given space in the Journal. Plant-physiology received a good share of attention either in short notices or in longer articles. Such titles appear as, the respiration of plants, the circulation of sap, the excrementitious matter thrown off by plants, the effects of certain gases and poisons on plants, and the relations of plants to different colored light. One of the most important of the notes is that in which is described the discovery by Robert Brown (19, 393, 1831) of the constant movement of minute particles suspended in a liquid, first detected by him in the fovilla of pollen grains, and now known as the Brownian (or Brunonian) movement. The heading under which this note appears is of interest, “The motion of living particles in all kinds of matter.”

One side of botany touches agriculture and economics. That side was represented even in the first volume of the Journal by a study of “the comparative quantity of nutritious matter which may be obtained from an acre of land when cultivated with potatoes or wheat.” Succeeding volumes in this series likewise present phases which are of special interest regarded from the point of view of economics; for example, those which treat of rotation of crops and of enriching the soil. Probably the economic paper which may be regarded as the most important, in fact epoch-making, is the full account of the invention by Appert of a method for preserving food indefinitely (13, 163, 1828). We all know that Appert’s process has revolutionized the preservation of foods, and in its modern modification underlies the vast industry of canned fruits, vegetables and so on. There are suggestions, also, as to the utilization of new foods, or of old foods in a new way, which resemble the suggestions made in these days of food conservation. For example, it is shown that flour can be made from leguminous seeds by steaming and subsequent drying, and pulverizing. There are excellent hints as to the best ways of preparing and using potatoes, and also for preserving them underground, where they will remain good for a year or two. It is shown that potato flour can be made into excellent bread. Another method of making bread, namely from wood, is described, but it does not seem quite so practicable. There are interesting notes on the sugar-beet as a source of sugar, and here appears one of the earliest accounts of the Assam tea-plant, which was destined to revolutionize the tea industry throughout the world. Cordage and textile fibers of bark and of wood should be utilized in the manufacture of paper. In fact one comes upon many such surprises in economic botany as the earlier volumes of the Journal are carefully examined.