A laboratory was established, as shown by the statement in the 1856-57 Catalogue that "such as desire it are permitted to engage in investigations under the eye of the Professor, in the Laboratory attached to this department."
According to the 1856-57 Catalogue, two courses in botany were offered. One was an elementary course, which followed an elementary course in zoology in the second semester of the junior year; the other was a course called Vegetable Anatomy and Physiology and the Principles of Classification, which was given as an elective course in the senior year. This class met three days each week. A similar course in zoology was given on alternate days, and it is stated that "at the option of the student either of the above courses may be omitted and a daily exercise made of the other." In 1864-65 the elementary course in botany was moved to the freshman year, in which it was taught for one-third of the semester.
The first mention of graduate study in botany was made in 1858-59. According to the Catalogue of that year (p. 43), advanced instruction was offered both semesters "in some of the departments of Zoology and Botany … to candidates for the Master's Degrees, and others possessing the requisite elementary information," and "this will include practical instruction in the use of the microscope and in the methods of anatomical research and a discussion of general principles of classification… Students of these higher courses will be permitted to work with the Professor in the laboratory connected with the department and will receive such assistance as may be found necessary." Here is the first emphasis upon microscopy, which later became a major field of study. The advanced work in botany was apparently elective, since it was not listed among the required courses for the master's degree.
In 1873, Professor Winchell resigned to become Chancellor of Syracuse University. This terminated his official connection with the teaching of botany at the University of Michigan, since on his return in 1879 he was appointed Professor of Geology and Paleontology. Although his main interests were in other fields, he did much to advance botanical instruction at the University. He developed two courses in which students were encouraged to study plants as well as books and, especially in the advanced course, to obtain botanical information through their own observations. He took an active interest in the development of the Museum and its collections. He reported that the botanical collections numbered 36,385 specimens upon his resignation in 1873. He strongly supported the theory of evolution. He was a leading member of the Methodist Church and did much to reconcile science and religion.
It is difficult to determine the number of students who specialized in botany with Professor Winchell. It must be remembered that only a few continued for the master's degree at that time. Three students of this period became prominent in the botanical field. The first of these was William J. Beal ('59, A.M. '62, Ph.D. hon. '80), who was for many years Professor of Botany at Michigan Agricultural College (Michigan State College) and one of the leading botanists of the country. The other two were Mark W. Harrington ('68, A.M. '71, LL.D. '94) and Volney M. Spalding ('73, Ph.D. Leipzig '94), both prominent later in the development of the botanical department at Michigan. That Winchell also interested other students in botany is shown by the contribution of valuable collections of plants by a number of alumni, notably Josiah T. Scovell, who was a student here between 1867 and 1869, Albert E. Foote ('67m), and Joseph C. Jones ('72, A.M. '75).
