COWLES, HENRY CHANDLER American botanist, was born in Kensington, Conn., on Feb. 27, 1869. He graduated at Oberlin college in 1893 and pursued further study at the University of Chicago, from which in 1898 he received the degree of doctor of philosophy. He was instructor in botany from 1902 to 1907, assistant professor from 1907 to 1911, and asso ciate professor from 1911 to 1915, when he was made pro fessor, at the University of Chicago, in which in 1925 he became chairman of the department of botany. He was one of the foremost pioneer investigators in plant oecology in Amer ica, and made valuable researches in physiographic and com parative oecology, especially the oecological relations of dune vege tation. He also made important contributions on the floristics of the Chicago region and on trees as indicators of past topographic conditions. His writings include Vegetation of Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan (1899) ; Plant Societies of Chicago (1901) ; Text book of Plant Ecology (191 I) ; Plant Societies of Chicago and Vicinity