July 20, 1905] 



NA TURE 



273 



physiology ; to quote the inscription beneath the bust, 

 " Oua ratione plantae aluntur, primus conspexit. " 



On the evening of June ii, the members met in 

 the Hall of the " Kaufmiinnscher Verein," when Prof, 

 lulius Wiesner, the well-known head of the Institute 

 of Plant Physiology, welcomed the botanists of tlie 

 world to the home of Clusius, Jacquin and Unger ; 

 and the botanists renewed old friendships or made 

 new ones over the Abendskarte and the inevitable 

 Bier. At the official opening, in the great festal hall 

 of the university, on Monday morning, greetings were 

 given by the famous geologist and president of the 

 Academy of Sciences, Prof. Eduard Suess, Prof. 

 Wiesner, and others. 



The general programme included lectures or papers 

 by well-known men on topics with which their names 

 have become associated. Thus Prof. Goebel discussed 

 the subject of " Regeneration," and Dr. D. H. Scott 

 gave an account of the present state of our know- 

 ledge of the Pteridosperms — the fern-like seed-plants 

 of the Carboniferous flora — the illustration of which, 

 by actual specimens, in the form of lantern-slides, was 

 especially appreciated. 



The development of the European flora since Tertiary 

 times formed the subject of a group of papers. Prof. 

 Engler, in stating the general problems, referred 

 to the part played by man and his works, especially 

 during the last century. He pleaded for the preserva- 

 tion of such plant-formations and plant-societies as 

 throw a light on the past history of the European 

 flora, citing as an example the National Park in the 

 United States of North America. In the same con- 

 nection Dr. Lauterbonn asked the help of the con- 

 gress towards securing the preservation of part of the 

 primitive forests of Bosnia, which, he stated, were in 

 imminent danger of destruction. An interesting 

 paper on the history of the development of the flora 

 of the North German " Tief-land " was read by Prof. 

 Weber. Covered by the sea since Oligocene times, 

 this area became dry land during later Pliocene times, 

 and the earliest vegetation of this period is remarkable 

 for the occurrence of the vine, which is now generally 

 regarded as an introduced plant in Central Europe. 

 The plant-life of this area was, during the diluvial 

 period, repeatedly crushed out of existence by land- 

 ice, the intervening periods of vegetation being re- 

 markable for the appearance of plants indicating a 

 milder climate than do those composing the existing 

 flora. Another subject, taken up by Dr. Molisch and 

 Prof. Hueppe, of Prague, was tfie present state of our 

 knowledge of COo-assimilation. Mention should also 

 be made of a very fine series of photographic slides 

 with which Dr. Hochreutiner, who has just returned 

 from a prolonged stay in Buitenzorg, illustrated his 

 account of a botanical institute in the tropics. 



But for many of the members the most important 

 work came in the afternoon, a time devoted by the 

 majority to relaxation, which often took the form of 

 excursions to places of botanical interest within easy 

 reach of the town. Meanwhile the conference on 

 botanical nomenclature sat in the lecture hall of the 

 Botanic Gardens. At the entrance to the gardens is 

 the former residence of the director, and we passed the 

 window of the room in which Kerner wrote most of 

 the well-known " Pflanzenleben." Kerner 's successor, 

 Prof, von Wettstein, is lodged in the new Botanical 

 Institute — a large and well-arranged building. The 

 arrangement of the gardens is mainly a geographical 

 one — in one bed a collection of Himalayan plants, 

 in another plants from the Cape, and so on. The 

 result, though doubtless helpful to the student, illus- 

 trates the limitations to which such an arrangement 

 is subject in any one climate. The work of the con- 

 ference was to discuss the recommendations of the 

 NO. 1864, VOL. 72] 



commission on nomenclature appointed by the Inter- 

 national Congress of Paris in 1900. These were em- 

 bodied in the Texie synoptique, a formidable quarto 

 volume in which the rapporteur general, Dr. Briquet, 

 had collated the numerous emendations and modifica- 

 tions of the original code of De Candolle, which 

 during the last five years have been submitted by 

 various societies, institutions, groups of botanists, and 

 individuals. The numerous suggestions had pre- 

 viously been voted on seriatim by the members of 

 the commission, and from the results of the voting 

 certain recommendations were drawn up by Dr. 

 Briquet for the consideration of the members of the 

 conference, about a hundred and fifty of whom were 

 present. The new .^merican school was strongly re- 

 presented by Dr. Britton, Mr. Coville, and others, 

 while Dr. 'Robinson, of Harvard, represented the 

 more moderate school which has worked on fines 

 similar to those adopted in England. Tlie Berlin 

 school was present in force, and most of the Con- 

 tinental botanical societies and institutions were re- 

 presented. As the president. Prof. Flahault, remarked, 

 in answer to Dr. Otto Kuntze's protest against an 

 " incompetent congress," it would be difficult tobnng 

 together a body of botanists more competent to discuss 

 botanical nomenclature, and, one may add, more seem- 

 ingly anxious to arrive at some solution of the various 

 problems, and some agreement on the points at issue. 

 From three to seven or eight o'clock each afternoon 

 the members steadily worked through the Texte. 



It was decided at the start to refer the question of 

 cellular cryptogams and fossils to separate comiTiis- 

 sions which should report to the next congress. ITie 

 present conference, therefore, dealt only with noser- 

 ing plants and vascular cryptogams. The results will 

 in due course be arranged and published in English, 

 French, and German. Brief reference may be made 

 to the more important. The code of laws approved bv 

 the conference is based on that of De Candolle, and will 

 consist of rules and recommendations, the difference 

 between the two sets being expressed thus :— " A name 

 contrary to a rule cannot be kept up; a namecontrary 

 to a recommendation is not a model for imitation 

 but cannot be rejected." The most important result 

 was the passing by an overwhelming majority 

 of a list of generic names, which from long 

 established usage are to be retained, though on the 

 principle of priority thev should be rejected. Ihere 

 was considerable discussion on the question as to the 

 trivial name to be adopted when a plant is transferred 

 from one genus to another, or from subspecific or 

 varietal to specific rank. English, and a minority of 

 American, botanists have followed the so-called Kew 

 rule " of adopting the first correct binominal, while 

 the majority of American and most Continental 

 botanists, in common with zoologists, adopt the 

 earliest trivial name. On this point a compromise was 

 effected as follows :— When a change of systematic 

 position without change of rank occurs (such as the 

 transference of a species from one genus to another), 

 the earliest epithet is to be used; when the rank 

 changes (as in the elevation of a variety to specific 

 rank), the original epithet is not insisted on. The 

 conference was also strongly opposed to any change 

 in a name once given, though for various reasons it 

 might be considered inappropriate or even misleading. 

 .A name is a name, and must stand. 



An account of the congress would be incomplete 

 without some reference to the nightly meetings for 

 social intercourse which were arranged by the organ- 

 ising committee on typical Continental lines. Members 

 will carry away very pleasant memories of the Rath- 

 haus-Keller, the Prater, and the Brauerei garden out 

 at Hutteldorf. For, after all, the great object of a 



