INFORMATION CONCERNING BOTANICAL ABSTRACTS 



The purpose of Botanical Abstracts is to supply complete citations and analytical 

 abstracts of all papers dealing with botanical subjects, wherever published, just as soon as 

 possible after they appear. Every effort is made to present complete and correct citations 

 with abstracts of original work, of all papers and reviews, appearing after January 1, 1919. 

 As an adequate index of progress, Botanical Abstracts is of use to the intelligent grower, 

 field agent and inspector, extension worker, teacher and investigator. The international 

 scope of the work should appeal especially to those workers who have restricted library facili- 

 ties. It is hoped that the classification by subjects will prove to be a great aid even to those 

 having access to large libraries, while the topical index should serve a most useful purpose to 

 every one interested in plants. 



The service of Botanical Abstracts is planned for botanists and all workers with plants, 

 throughout the world. The services of all the botanical workers who are connected with Botan- 

 ical Abstracts in any way, are given without any compensation except the satisfaction of par- 

 ticipation in such a great cooperation toward the advancement of science. It is hoped that all 

 students of plants will feel that Botanical Abstracts is their journal. Although the physical 

 exigencies of the enterprise have made it practically necessary that the actual work of prepar- 

 ing the issues be largely done within a relatively short distance from the place of publication, 

 yet this does not imply that the cooperation is not needed of residents of other countries than 

 the United States and Canada. Many collaborators and abstractors reside in other countries, 

 but the aim has not been to distribute the actual work throughout the world; rather has it 

 seemed best to distribute the work so as to give prompt and efficient service, without 

 reference to the particular countries in which the workers reside. It is physically necessary 

 that the burden of the work and the finding of funds for clerical assistance, etc., should rest 

 largely on North American workers, but the field covered is international and the results are 

 available to all. 



The Board of Control of Botanical Abstracts, Incorporated, has charge of publication. 

 The board is a democratic organization made up of members elected from many societies, 

 as is shown on the first cover page. Each society elects, in its own way, two representa- 

 tives, each for a period of four years. One new member is elected each biennium (beginning 

 January 1, 1921) to replace the representative who retires. In the list on the first cover page, 

 the member first named in each group is to serve till January 1, 1923; the second member in 

 each group is to serve till January 1, 1921. Members are not eligible for immediate reelection. 

 The Executive Committee of the Board of Control of Botanical Abstracts consists of 

 five members, elected annually by the Board. It has charge of ad interim affairs not involving 

 matters of general policy. Its membership is shown by the asterisks in the list on the first 

 cover page. The chairman of the Committee for 1920 is Donald Reddick, Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, New York. 



The Board of Editors of Botanical Abstracts consists of an Editor-in-Chief and Editors 

 for Sections, as shown on the second cover page. The Editors are elected annually by the 

 Board of Control. Assistant Editors are appointed by the Editors. Editors for Sections, 

 with the aid of Assistant Editors for Sections, are responsible for editing the material of their 

 respective sections as this is supplied by the Bibliography Committee (from the Collaborators 

 and other Abstractors), and also for citations and abstracts of non-periodical literature. 

 They also supply abbreviated titles for the author index of each volume and subject-index 

 entries (for the occasional subject indexes) pertaining to their respective sections. The Editor- 

 in-Chief, with the help of the Associate Editor-in-Chief and with the approval of the Board of 

 Editors, is responsible for the general make-up of the issues, for the final compilations of the 

 author and subject indexes, and for such other details as are left to him by the Editors for 

 Sections. 



The Bibliography Committee of Botanical Abstracts, the membership of which is shown 

 on the second cover page, is appointed annually by the Executive Committee of the Board of 

 Control. The Bibliography Committee is charged with the responsibility of arranging for the 

 prompt citing and abstracting of serial botanical literature. In performing this function, the 

 Committee assigns to individual Collaborators the complete responsibility for furnishing- the 



