August 5, 1922] 



NA TURE 



187 



make progress and fell into debt. Beginning in 1906, 

 a Commission from the University of London con- 

 sidered the possibility of incorporating them into the 

 University and making them the centre of a Botanical 

 Institute, but the scheme was not adopted. Since the 

 war the gardens have taken on a new lease of life. 

 An energetic Superintendent has been appointed, who 

 has already increased considerably the utility and the 

 amenities of the gardens. Ground has been set apart 

 for genetic experiments under the direction of Prof. 

 Ruggles Gates, of King"s College, London. Several 

 hard tennis courts have also been built, which are a 

 considerable source of income. 



In 1919 a Government Committee was appointed 

 under the chairmanship of Sir David Prain, to con- 

 sider how the work of the Royal Botanic Society could 

 be made more useful from the scientific and educa- 

 tional point of view. Definite recommendations were 

 made, which it is hoped will be carried into effect as 

 funds become available. The recommendations in- 

 cluded (1) the establishment of a School of Economic 

 Botanv, where a knowledge of economic and tropical 

 plants and their products could be obtained ; (2) an 

 Institute of Research, especially on the living plant and 

 its physiology ; (3) a centre for teaching in horticul- 

 ture ; and (4) courses in school gardening foi teachers. 



When these are all carried out they will involve an 

 annual expenditure of about 3000/. for salaries and 

 expenses, and an initial outlay of some 5000/. for 

 laboratories and equipment. Such an Institute of 

 Economic Botany would be of enormous value to 

 botany in this country, and in particular would 

 contribute much to the economic development of 

 our tropical possessions. 



It is highly desirable that the necessary funds for 

 this purpose should be forthcoming in the near future, 

 so that the reconstruction of greenhouses and other 

 buildings, which has become essential, can be carried 

 out in a scheme harmonious with the present arrange- 

 ments of the gardens. Botany in Great Britain has 

 occupied in some respects a unique position, especially 

 in its many-sidedness and in the closeness of the 

 relations which have usually existed with economic, 

 agricultural, and horticultural interests, and an Institute 

 of Botanical Research of the kind recommended by the 

 Government Committee in 1919 would probably do 

 more than any other measure for the advancement of 

 botanical science throughout the Empire. Any public- 

 spirited citizen who would set the example of subscrib- 

 ing funds for this purpose would earn the gratitude of 

 all those who have at heart the development of botanical 

 science for the welfare of mankind. 



Obit 



S. P. Smith. 

 "T^HE name of Stephenson Percy Smith, whose death 

 *- is reported at New Plymouth, New Zealand, is 

 probably more widely known than any other among 

 students of Polynesian ethnology. Mr. Smith was 

 born at Beccles in Suffolk, and arrived with his parents 

 at the infant settlement of New Plymouth on February 

 7, 1850. In 1855 he entered the Government Survey 

 Department, passing upwards through all grades and 

 becoming Surveyor-General in 1889, a post which he 

 held till his retirement in 1900. Among a number of 

 important and arduous departmental undertakings 

 carried through with conspicuous ability were the 

 survey following the great eruption of Tarawera, and 

 the mapping and charting of the Chatham Islands and 

 the Kermadecs. His ability in affairs was recognised 

 and made use of by the New Zealand Government on 

 several occasions, perhaps most notably when he was 

 dispatched to Niue, where he drew up the constitution 

 under which that island has prospered ever since. 



In spite of his varied services to the State, it is 

 in another capacity that he will be best remembered, 

 namely, as the leading authority on Polynesian tradi- 

 tions. A few months before his death a fourth edition 

 appeared of " Hawaiki : The Whence of the Maori," 

 a book which has been more widely read and more 

 often quoted than any other modern work on Polynesia. 

 In its latest form it has been considerably expanded, 

 and it is weightier and more mature, even, than before. 

 He published several other books dealing with the 

 Maori, and a very large number of papers, every one 

 of which is of value. 



A service to ethnology almost as important as the 

 publication of his own works was performed by Percy 

 Smith in the capacity of president of the Polynesian 

 Society and editor of its Journal. He was the most 

 prominent of its founders in 1892, and he presided over 



NO. 2753, VOL. I IO] 



u a ry. 



it and guided it until his death. Thirty volumes of the 

 Journal have appeared, and the immense industry 

 and the scholarship involved in editing them and in 

 translating numberless papers published in them, would 

 alone constitute a notable life-work. By thus provid- 

 ing a means for the rapid publication of ethnological 

 research in New Zealand and the Pacific he performed 

 a service for anthropology in that part of the globe 

 probably greater than has been rendered by any other 

 worker in the field. He was an honorary member 

 of many scientific societies in different parts of the 

 world, and in New Zealand had been honoured by a 

 Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute, and by the 

 award of the Hector Medal. 



No one could meet Percy Smith without recognising 

 the strength and range of his intellect. He rendered 

 ready help alike to great and small. His loss will be 

 felt not only by those who knew him personally and 

 experienced his generous help, but by everv student 

 who begins research in the field of which he was the 

 unchallenged master. H. D. S. 



We notice with regret the announcement of the 

 death, on July 27 last, of Dr. A. J. Harries. Dr. 

 Harries, who was born in 1856 and received his medical 

 education in London and Brussels, was well known for 

 his work on electro-therapeutics and kindred subjects. 

 Among a number of medical works which he published 

 was " A Manual of Electro Therapeutics," issued in 

 1890 ; he was also the author of papers on the dangers 

 and uses of electricity, including one contributed to the 

 Leeds meeting of the British Association in 1890, in 

 which it was pointed out that current strength, as well 

 as voltage, is an important factor in estimating the 

 danger to life from accidental contacts with " live " 

 wires and structures. 



