IOWA STATE JOURNAL OF RESEARCH / FEBRUARY, 1981
Vol. 55, No. 3
219
ON THE STRUCTURE OF ECHINOCYSTIS LOBATA
1
J. C. Arthur
EDITORIAL NOTES
The first Master's degree at (now) Iowa State University was awarded in
botany in 1878 to J. C. Arthur who later became one of the major pioneer
mycologists in the United States.
The thesis research, conducted under the direction of Dr. C. E. Bessey,
Professor of Botany, was a careful and detailed anatomical study of a native
member of the cucumber family. As of record, it is one of the first, perhaps the
first, detailed microscopic study of a plant undertaken in the United States.
The thesis is mundane in the sense that it is limited to meticulous observational
detail with minimal extrapolation. But the lucid organization and quality of
writing exceeds that of many contemporary theses and dissertations. Of its
substantive nature, Professor Nels Lersten (Botany Department, Iowa State
University) observes, "This work must be among the first on plant anatomy
done in North America. Sherwin Carlquist wrote a short paper on the history
of plant anatomy in this country and he says nothing was done before the
1890s." The thesis through its numerous references to Darwin (some included
in the excerpts reproduced herein) reminds current biologists that Darwin was
a botanist as well as a zoologist, and that he wrote on many things besides
evolution.
The microscope used by Arthur was the Iowa State microscope which
was purchased at a cost of $1200, then a monstrous sum. For many years
it was evidently the most valuable research equipment item owned by the university.
Who was this J. C. Arthur who received the first Master's degree at Iowa
State? The following biographical note by Professor Lois Tiffany (Botany Department, Iowa State University) provides some idea of the man and the scope
of his subsequent career.
"Joseph Charles Arthur was born in Lawville, New York, in 1850 and
moved with his parents to Charles City, Iowa, when he was six. He attended
country school and develped an early interest in plants that continued throughout his life. He was one of the first students at Iowa State College when it
opened in 1869, receiving his botanical training with Dr. C. E. Bessey.
After graduating from Iowa State College in 1872, he returned to Iowa
State in 1876. During the following two years he served as librarian and demonstrator of botany and zoology while working on his Master's degree. In 1876 he
published his first scientific paper, a catalog of the flowering plants of Iowa.
Edited by Duane Isely, Professor of Botany, and Toby Fishbein, University
Archivist, Iowa State University. We acknowledge with thanks information
provided by Nels Lersten and Lois Tiffany, Professors of Botany, Iowa State
University.
^This microscope is presently on display in Bessey Hall, Iowa State University.
Purdue
UNIVERSITY