SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 138 



wliose. death occurred on Christmas day, 1920. 



A copy of the Gothaisches Tageblatt re- 

 cently received by the writer contains an in- 

 teresting sketch of his life, and shows the 

 high esteem in which he was held by his 

 fellow-townsmen in Gotha, where the greater 

 part of his life was spent. 



While Bruchmann is, perhaps, not so well 

 known in America as some of his contem- 

 poraries, his work was of a very high order, 

 and eminently worthy of recognition, and is 

 quite indispensable to students of the Pterido- 

 phytes, which were his chosen field of study. 



Helmut Bruchmann was born in Follow, a 

 small town of Pomerania, ISTovember 13, 1847. 

 After his preliminary schooling he studied at 

 Jena, where he became associated with Stras- 

 burger, who quickly recognized his abilities, 

 and would gladly have kept him, as assistant 

 in Jena, but financial reasons made it neces- 

 sary to seek more remunerative employment. 



In 1877 he accepted a position as teacher in 

 the high school of Gotha, where he spent the 

 remainder of his life. Later he received the 

 title of professor. 



Bruchmann's name will always be associated 

 with his truly, remarkable studies on the life 

 history of the European species of Lycopo- 

 dium. These familiar plants had hitherto 

 bafiied all efforts to trace their life history, and 

 Bruchmann spent nearly twenty years at work 

 before he published his monograph in 1898. 

 This is a masterpiece of careful work, and 

 its great value was quickly recognized. The 

 patience required to complete this work will 

 be appreciated when it is realized that in some 

 species six to seven years elapsed before the 

 first germination stages were evident and 

 twelve to fifteen years before the prothallia 

 were mature. 



This monograph was followed by further in- 

 vestigations in Lycopodium, and also very 

 important papers on the gametophyte and em- 

 bryo of Botrychium lunaria and Ophioglos- 

 sum vulgatum, the first connected account of 

 the development of these ferns. These, with 

 several notable papers on Selaginella com- 

 prise his most important contributions. 



Douglas H. Campbell 



Stanford University, California 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



FIELD WORK OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTI- 

 TUTION 



The Smithsonian Institution has issued its 

 annual exploration report describing its scien- 

 tific field work throughout the world in 1920. 

 Twenty-three separate expeditions were in the 

 field carrying on researches in geology, pale- 

 ontology, zoology, botany, astro-physics, an- 

 thropology, archeology, and ethnology, and the 

 regions visited included the Canadian Eoekies, 

 fourteen states of the United States, Haiti, 

 Jamaica, four countries of South America, 

 Africa from the Cape to Cairo, China, Japan, 

 Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Australia, and 

 the Hawaiian Islands. 



In an outline of the year's work, the In- 

 stitution says that 



Secretary Walcott continued his geological work 

 in the Cambrian rocks of the Canadian Rockies in 

 the region northeast of Banff, Alberta. The work 

 was hindered considerably in July and August by 

 forest fires, and by continuous stormy weather in 

 September, but the particular questions involved 

 in the season's research were settled satisfactorily 

 and some beautiful photographs of this wild and 

 rugged region obtained. Other geological field 

 work was successfully carried on in various states 

 of the United States by members of the staff. 



In astrophysical research the institution was 

 unusually active. Through the generosity of Mr. 

 John A. Eoebling of New Jersey, the Smithsonian 

 solar observing station located on the plain near 

 Calama, Chile, was moved to a nearby mountain 

 peak, where the observations will be unaffected 

 by the dust and smoke, and a new station was 

 established on the Harqua Hala Mountain, Ari- 

 zona, probably the most cloudless region in the 

 United States. From daily observations of the 

 radiation of the sun at these two widely separated 

 stations, it is hoped to establish definitely the 

 value of the ' ' solar constant ' ' observations in 

 forecasting weather. Dr. C. G. Abbot, director 

 of the work, also describes the successful opera- 

 tion on Mt. Wilson, California, of a solar cooker 

 devised by him. With this apparatus it was pos- 

 sible, using only the sun's heat, to cook bread, 

 meat, vegetables, and preserves. 



Mr. H. C. Raven represented the Smithsonian 

 on an extensive collecting expedition through 

 Africa from south to north. Although many diffi- 

 culties were encountered, among others a railway 

 wreck in which two members of the expedition 



