THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INDIAN BOTANICAL SOCIETY.
There has long been the need for organization of the scattered and isolated botanical interests of India. At the Nagpur meeting of the Indian Science Congress in January, 1920, the Botany Section decided to organize an Indian Botanical Society. A Committee consisting of Prof. W. Burns, D.Sc, of the College of Agriculture, Poona ; Prof. P. Briihl, Ph.D., of the University College of Science, Calcutta ; Prof. Shiv Ram Kashyap, M.Sc, of the Government College, Lahore; Eai Bahadur K. Rangachari, M.A., L.T., of the Agricultural College, Coimbatore ; Prof. Borbal Sahni, D.Sc, then of Benares Hindu University, Benares ; and Prof. Winfield Dudgeon, Ph.D., of Ewing Christian College, Allahabad, Chairman, was constituted to carry out the details of organization. The membership of the Society has now (December, 14, 1920) reached 71, and includes men engaged in all branches of botanical service from all parts of the country.
When the membership had reached 40, an election was held by correspondence, and the following officers were elected : — Dr. Winfield Dudgeon, President ; Dr. W. Burns, Vice-President ; Prof. Shiv Ram Kashyap, Secretary-Treasurer ; Dr. Borbal Sahni, Councillor for two years and Rai Bahadur K. Rangachari, Councillor for one year. The President and Vice-President will serve through 1921, when the President will become a Councillor for two years ; the Secretary-Treasurer is elected for a period of three years. The Officers and Councillors will constitute an Executive Committee to transact the business of the Society between annual meetings.
The purposes of the Society are several, though it may take years to realize some of them. The Society should promote a feeling of fellowship among Botanists, and draw them together for mutual benefit ; help to improve the quality and content of botanical instruction in the various colleges and universities, provide Botanists an organized means for dealing with other organizations ; and promote and encourage research in Botany, by advice and encouragement to beginners in research, by organizing botanical trips and expeditions of various kinds ; and perhaps finally by establishing one or more Biological Stations in suitable locations. It should provide a central exchange for aiding Botanists in securing teaching and other appointments, for ideas, opinions, methods, and information generally, and for specimens, slides, research material, etc. ; and finally, it should make more available to members the scattered and insufficient botanical literature that reaches India.
