66 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [ JANUARY 
have are quite as likely to be found in the Bethefte as in the Centralblatt 
itself. The great body of subscribers are practically paying for what 
they do not want, the original articles, and are forced to pay an extra 
price for what they do want. It would be quite possible, by omitting 
the original articles or relegating them instead of the notices to the 
Bethefte, to include all the notices in the four regular volumes issued 
annually. Certainly this result could be accomplished if the lengthy 
notices of certain works not of primary importance were condensed as 
they should be, the interest of the reader being consulted rather than 
the wishes of the author. 
On looking over the original articles in the Centralb/att it will be 
seen that, while a certain number are important, they are almost always 
short, and, it must be confessed, not numerous; on the other hand, 
the majority, it can hardly be denied, are tedious and on subjects 
which could interest very few readers. A good share of the original 
articles would appear more properly in the proceedings of learned 
societies than in acurrent journal. Again, the subscriber hardly cares 
to pay for polemic tirades of a personal and perhaps undignified 
character. 
3 
