THE PRUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 273 



In L897, in addition to the publication of memoirs prepared by the 



members of the academy and contained in the regular 'Proceedings,' 

 and to the making of grants such as it had long been in the habit of 

 making to aid individuals to publish or complete important works of 

 their own. the academy found itself in a position to look toward enter- 

 prises which would call for large sums of money and for the labor of 

 many years. To some of them brief reference may be made. It had 

 already taken part in the rounding and directing of the work of the 

 imperial German Archeological Society. The academy is also repre- 

 sented by three of its members, one of whom must he the presiding 

 officer, on the Central Direction of the Monumenta Germanise. As has 

 been suggested, it helped to bring into existence the geodetic and 

 meteorological institutes of Prussia and agreed to furnish its share of 

 the cost of the new Latin and Egyptian dictionaries. It has already 

 published complete and worthy editions of the works of Frederick the 

 Great. Luther and Kant, in addition to those of specialists on subjects 

 to which they had given years of labor. In 1888 it was instrumental 

 in founding the Historical Institute in Eome, over which von Sybel 

 presided for five years. This society has a directing secretary who lives 

 in Eome, and is assisted in his work by two competent historical schol- 

 ars, each of whom is permitted to have a helper. One of its first 

 objects was to collect all the correspondence between the Roman Curia 

 and the nuncios sent to Germany during the Reformation. Five vol- 

 umes of this correspondence, with two other volumes ready for the 

 press, had been published in 1899. This work has now been brought 

 into affiliation with the Royal Archives, where it will be within the 

 reach of all scholars. Efforts were made in 1893 to gather the papal 

 decrees on all subjects brought before the Curia which concern Ger- 

 many. These are to be carefully arranged and classified and will go 

 back to the thirteenth century. Work began with the decrees of the 

 first half of the fifteenth century. These decrees are found in seven 

 special Roman archives. The government appropriated at first 60,000 

 Marks a year ($15,000) for four years, and has since repeated the 

 grant. Beginning with 1897 the director of the institute has edited 

 and published a magazine whose title, ' Sources out of Italian Libraries 

 and Archives,' indicates its purpose and its value. Not only does the 

 academy mediate between the Geodetic Institute at Potsdam and the 

 government, it performs the same service for the Meteorological Insti- 

 tute, which is in close touch with the Royal Observatory for Astro- 

 physics. TJpon the collection of Latin inscriptions, of which Momm- 

 sen was editor till his death, more than $100,000 have been expended, 

 all of which was obtained through the academy chiefly from the sov- 

 ereign. On this work, which is nearly completed, Mr. Hirschfield has 

 since 1885 been associated with Mommsen. In 1888 a commission 



VOL. LXV. 18. 



