On the formation of

THE SOCIETY FOR ECONOMIC BOTANY

The following is a report from an In- terim Committee on the formation of a Society for Economic Botany. The com- mittee was appointed at an informal con- ference on Economic Botany held at The New York Botanical Garden August 12- 13, 1958. (See "Report on Economic Botany Conference" Econ. Bot. 12 (4) : 405-420. 1958).

"In September, 1958, a questionnaire was widely distributed to survey interest in the founding of a society for economic botany. More than three-fourths of those who returned questionnaires indicated they would join such a society. A large majority favored the name T H E SO- CIETY FOR ECONOMIC BOTANY. Reaction to possible affiliation of the so- ciety with other societies was mixed, but a majority indicated that the society should remain independent until the mem- bership decided otherwise.

"With this very encouraging reflection of interest, the Committee then asked three outstanding men to serve as an Advisory Council to the Committee. Con- stitution and By-Laws for the proposed society were drafted by the Interim Com- mittee and reviewed and approved by the Advisory Council. The Constitution and By-Laws provided a framework within which we could ask a slate of pro-tern officers and councilmen to serve until a regular meeting of the mem- bers of an established society can be held.

"The New York Botanical Garden has offered their journal ECONOMIC BOTANY for adoption as the official organ of the Society, under terms very favorable to the Society. The pro-tern Council, under authority vested in it by the Constitution, effected an Agreement with The New York Botanical Garden

whereby ECONOMIC BOTANY, be- ginning with Volume 13, 1959, becomes the official organ of the Society. Under the terms of the agreement, members of the Society will receive ECONOMIC BOTANY at an annual rate of $6.00 which is included in the dues. Nonmem- bers may subscribe to the journal but at the rate of $8.00 per volume.

"Because of the name, T H E SOCIE- TY FOR ECONOMIC BOTANY, peo- ple in disciplines other than botany may have the impression that this is a society composed only of botanists. Article II (Definition and Objective) of the Con- stitution should remove any such impres- sion :

"The field of economic botany is de- fined, for the purpose of this Society, as all activities which pertain to the past, present, and future uses of plants by man. It ts recognized that this broad definition includes all or parts of many established disciplines such as: agronomy, anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, chemurgy, economics, ethnology, forestry, geography, geology, horticulture, medi- cine, microbiology, pharmacognosy, phar- macology, in addition to the established botanical disciplines. T H E SOCIETY FOR ECONOMIC BOTANY endeav- ors to bridge the gaps between such rec- ognized fields of science by promoting interdisciplinary channels of communica- tion.

"The composition of the pro-tern Council, the governing body of the So- ciety, also reflects the interdisciplinary nature of our Society:

"Chairman: C. O. Erlanson, Chief, New Crops Research Branch, U.S.D.A., Beltsville, Maryland

165

166 ECONOMIC BOTANY

Wheeler McMillen, Chairman of the Board, The Chemurgic Council, New York

L. G. Nickell, Head, Phytochemistry Laboratory, Chas. Pfizer & Co., Inc., Brooklyn, New York

W. C. Steere, Director, The New York Botanical Garden, New York

I. A. Wolff, Chief, Industrial Crops Laboratory, U.S.D.A., Peoria, Illi- nois

H. W. Youngken, Jr., Dean, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R. I.

"The pro-tern officers of the Society are :

President: Ernest Guenther, Chemist and Vice President of Fritzsche Brothers, Inc., New York

Secretary: Quentin Jones, Botanist, U.S.D.A., Beltsville, Maryland

Treasurer: David J. Rogers, Curator of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, New York

"It is tentatively planned to have the first meeting of the Society in April, 1960. Place, dates, and program of the meeting will be announced sufficiently early to invite participation.

"Classes of membership have been de- signed to accommodate several categories of individual and institutional members. Article II of the By-Laws is here quoted :

"ART ICL E II. Classes of Members. Section 1. Individual Members.

Subsection a. Annual Members.

Persons who are interested in any aspect of economic botany and who shall pay annual dues of seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50).

Subsection b. Life Members. Per- sons interested in the purposes of the Society, who shall pay one hundred dollars ($100.00).

Subsection c. Patrons. Persons in- terested in the aims and objec- tives of the Society who con- tribute two hundred dollars ($200.00) or more to its sup- port.

Section 2. Institutional Members. Subsection a. Ajfiliate Members.

Institutions which support the Society by annual contributions of one hundred dollars ($100.- 00).

Subsection b. Sustaining Mem- bers. Institutions which support the Society by annual contribu- tions of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00) or more."

Anyone who wishes to make applica- tion for membership in the Society should write to

Dr. David J. Rogers New York Botanical Garden Bronx Park New York 58, New York

Interim Committee on Organization QUENTIN JONES L. G. NICKELL

DAVID j . ROGERS