1897. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 147 



which not more than one or two members can appreciate a single 

 sentence, is it not a waste of precious time for the others, and would 

 they not be advancing science more effectually by spending a quiet 

 hour instead in their own studies ? The answer that would be given 

 by many Fellows of the Linnean Society of London may be inferred 

 from the way in which their meeting-room has been emptied by 

 abstruse verbosity on more than one occasion of late. 



On a recent occasion of this kind an author succeeded in prac- 

 tically emptying the room, leaving scarcely any Fellows beyond the 

 officers and four members of council who felt it their duty to remain. 

 The " reading " began abruptly with some thanks to botanists who 

 had assisted the author. No reference whatever was made to the 

 precise bearing of the new contribution on previous research in the 

 same direction. No attempt was made to explain, to the Fellows who 

 were not specialists on the group dealt with, the nature of the material, 

 and yet no specialists were present. As the author proceeded, he picked 

 out a casual sentence at irregular intervals from his systematic diag- 

 noses, often not finishing the reading of the same even so far as the 

 punctuation-mark ; and the monotonj^ of this procedure was only 

 interrupted by an occasional rummage through a pile of dried speci- 

 mens dumped down in absolute chaos on the table. Some of these 

 the author explained, in a lucid interval, had been lent by the Director 

 of Kew Gardens. We only hope that by some strange accident they 

 escaped the pulverisation which to an onlooker seemed inevitable. 

 On the board was arranged a series of diagrams, without the faintest 

 indication as to what they represented, and the author only made a 

 confused and incoherent reference to a small proportion of them. A 

 map, duly exhibited to illustrate the distribution of the species, was 

 not even referred to. 



We have devoted so much space to this circumstantial recital, 

 not because the instance was an isolated one calling for censure, but 

 because the frequency of such performances requires that some 

 vigorous and emphatic protest should be made, if our societies are to 

 retain their old prestige and influence in promoting the communion of 

 workers one with another. Nor have we mentioned the Linnean 

 Society because matters are worse there than elsewhere ; but surely 

 if a paper is worthy of presenting to any society with such honorable 

 traditions, the mode of presentation to the meeting is worth half-an- 

 hour's preliminary consideration and arrangement. An author might 

 at least have his illustrations in correct order for reference ; he might 

 explain the object of his communication and how it bears on the progress 

 of that department of science to which it relates. He might deign to 

 give his fellow-naturalists in other fields an outline of his methods 

 that would be at least intelligible to them. If he is not prepared to 

 do this, let him give his communication immediate burial in some 

 special magazine which none but the specialists closely concerned are 

 likely to see. The most technical contribution can, we maintain, be 



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