46 PEOCEEDINGS OP THE 



In the " Beitrage," and still more so in the monograph, we find 

 already laid down the lines along w'hich his life work was to run, — 

 classification and plant distribution on an evolutiouarj basis. The 

 scope of his earliest memoirs was relatively narrow ; but he soon 

 extended his researches to other and larger groups, gradually pro- 

 ducing a long series of more or less complete monographs and 

 revisions of genera and families. We are equally astonished at 

 the width of their range and the variety of their subjects. Some, 

 such as the monographs on the Aracese, Anacardiaceae, and Bur- 

 seraeeae, stand by themselves ; others form parts of comprehensive 

 w'orks like the ' Flora Brasiliensis,' or ' Die Natiirlichen Pflanzen- 

 familien ' ; others again, scattered through many volumes of the 

 ' Botanische Jahrbiicher ' or embodied in the splendidly illustrated 

 ' Monographieen Afrikanischer Pflanzenfamilien und Gattungen,' 

 serve to illustrate the amazing wealth of the African flora — that 

 flora which, in later years, became one of the principal centres of 

 his many-sided activity. Work of this class means analysis as 

 well as synthesis ; but for a mind so essentially constructive 

 as Engler's, synthesis must always exercise the greater attraction, 

 and accordingly we soon find him working in the direction of 

 a comprehensive synopsis of the vegetable kingdom, raised on the 

 foundation provided by Brongniart's system, but largely modified 

 by the results of modern research and his own vast experience. 

 As early as 1884, he gave ns the outlines of such a synopsis in his 

 " Fiihrer durch den Koniglichen botanlschen Garten zu Bi'eslau,"^ 

 and again in 1892 in the first edition of his ' Syllabus.' The 

 synopsis itself, in the form of a profusely illustrated ' Genera 

 Plantarum,' was obviously beyond the powers of any single in- 

 dividual. Engler therefore enlisted the services of a body of 

 collaborators, many of them his own pupils ; and, thus aided, the 

 first part of the synopsis, kiiown as ' Die jVatUrlichen Pflanzen- 

 familien/ appeared in 1887. The early death of Prantl, who had 

 at first assisted him, threw the whole burden of the editorship of 

 this colossal work on to Engler's shoulders ; yet progress was never 

 interrupted, and the year 1908 brought fulfilment. Completenesa 

 and uniformity of plan have made Engler's synopsis the standard 

 work of modern botanical taxonomy ; but his ambition was not 

 satisfied. In 1900, long before the last part of the ' Natiirlichen 

 Pflanzenfamilien ' had been published, a new and still more com- 

 prehensive work 'DasPflanzenreich. Eegni vegetabilis Conspectus' 

 was begun on Engler's recommendation and under his direction.. 

 Following 'Die Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien' in general plan, it is 

 intended to be a collection of monographs ranging over the whole 

 of the vegetable kingdom. It may take a generation to complete, 

 and even then it will not be final ; but it will set the coping stone 

 upon the life work of a genius of enterprise and organisation. 



Only eight years intervened between the publication of Darwin's 

 epoch-making essay and the appearance of Engler's first paper, 

 but he was already imbued with the new spirit, and, from the 

 very beginning, the idea of evolution runs through his taxouomie 



