Abstract
SOME remarks with which Prof. M'Nab prefaces a paper “On the Movements of Water in Plants,” recently published in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, deserve serious consideration as an instance of the obstacles which exist in the way of scientific research in this country quite apart from the personal difficulties of those who may wish to engage in it. He complains that “the chief difficulty I have had to contend with has been the impossibility of obtaining in Dublin, in the same locality, the two essentials for experimenting, namely, a laboratory and a botanical garden. The appliances of a chemical laboratory must be within easy reach of the plants to be experimented on; if not, then errors are sure to be made; and as much time would necessarily elapse between procuring the plant for experiment and the commencement of the experiment itself, the results obtained would certainly be untrustworthy. In fact, the nearer the plants are to the laboratory the better; the results will be more accurate, and the experiments much more easily performed.... A large number of most interesting and valuable experiments might be made if only a few pieces of apparatus could be placed near the plants to be experimented on. A balance, a water-oven, spectroscope, and the like, are essential; while the few chemicals and small pieces of apparatus could easily be had. There can be little doubt that the reason why so few physiological experiments fare made in this country is to be looked for in the absence of the necessary laboratory accommodation near our gardens. In Germany and France the agricultural stations supply most of the researches in vegetable physiology. Here, however, all depends on private enterprise; and when there is an observer capable of undertaking experiments, he may not be willing to incur the expense of supplying plants and apparatus.”
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OBSTACLES TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH . Nature 11, 62–63 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/011062a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/011062a0