April 25, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



395 



use, licensing or otherwise dealing with any 

 articles made in accordance therewith) the 

 commissioners may, on the request of the treas- 

 ury, inquire into the circumstances of the case, 

 and may make a recommendation to the treas- 

 ury as to the remuneration (if any) that is 

 proper to be allowed therefor. 



THE REVISION OF PRITZEL'S BOTANICAL 

 DICTIONARY 



Pritzel in tlie middle of the last century 

 compiled a dictionary of every important pub- 

 lished picture or illustration of every known 

 plant, of which he enumerates more than 100.- 

 000, giving a reference to the book and page 

 where each illustration may be found; so that 

 any one hearing of a plant he never happened 

 to have seen could look out the name in 

 " Pritzel," and on referring to the book and 

 page given, find a representation of the plant 

 — colored or otherwise. 



Pritzel's book is long out of print, and as 

 he finished his work in 18G6 it is desirable to 

 bring Pritzel's work up to date. Different sci- 

 entific bodies (and private individuals) in 

 England and in the United States have from 

 time to time made suggestions for under- 

 taking this work of revision, but as yet none 

 of their suggestions have taken effect, chiefly 

 on account of the very large expenditures and 

 scientific work it involves. 



The original Pritzel, which must of course 

 be reprinted, contains about 100.000 entries, 

 and it is estimated that at least 125,000 more 

 entries will have to be incorporated with them. 

 The Royal Horticultural Society has at last 

 definitely undertaken to carry out the work 

 with the assistance of botanists attached to 

 the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Natural 

 History Museum and the Linnean Society. 

 and in friendly cooperation with the United 

 States government Bureau of Plant Industry. 



In 1913 the society began to raise the re- 

 quired amoimt, the International Horticul- 

 tural Exhibition held in 1912 starting the 

 fund with a donation of £250 followed by £100 

 from the Veitch Memorial Trustees and the 

 council of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 voted £250 to which they have since added 



another £250 to enable the work to be begun. 

 The work has now been actually started, the 

 typists having accommodation found for them 

 at Kew through the assistance of the director, 

 and the whole is under the immediate super- 

 vision of the following committee, viz. : Pro- 

 fessor I. Bayley, Mr. E. A. Bowles. Mr. F. J. 

 Hanbury, Captain Arthur W. Hill. Dr. B. 

 Daydon Jackfon, Mr. Gerald W. E. Loder, Sir 

 Daniel Morris, Sir D.ivid Prain, Dr. A. B. 

 Rendle, Dr. 0. Stapf. Sir Harry J. Veitch. to 

 which, as has been said, will be added direct 

 assistance from Kew, the Natural History 

 Museum, the Linnean Society and the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry. 



GERMAN SCIENCE AFTER THE WAR 



Nature quotes from an editorial in Die 

 Umschau, for November 30, 1918, by the 

 editor. Professor J. H. Bechhold, in which he 

 indicates the manner in which German science 

 can aid the Fatherland in its hour of defeat 

 and assist it to gain the supremacy in the eco- 

 nomic sphere. After pointing out that recon- 

 structed Germany must perforce be simple in 

 order to conform to the new conditions of 

 life imposed upon her by recent events, he 

 asks the question ; In what relation shall sci- 

 ence, technics and art stand in the new state? 

 Germany, it is explained, must in future seek 

 to live upon her own resources; further, she 

 will have only a small amount of raw material 

 surplus to her own needs, and for this reason 

 it will be incmnbent upon her to export the 

 output of her genius; to meet the situation as 

 it should be met, Germany will have to build 

 herself up on efficiency management. She is 

 told that she must attempt to excel all other 

 countries in the quality of her precision in- 

 struments and lenses, artificial silks and tex- 

 tiles, dyes and medicines, high-class furniture 

 and works of art, in order to create a demand 

 for these valuable products of her industry 

 in foreign lands. For this reason, Germany 

 will require, says Professor Bechhold, highly 

 trained engineers, chemists, electricians, skilled 

 mechanics and artificers, and. in order that her 

 needs in these directions may be suitably met, 

 she will further require first-class teachers. 



