Deoembbe 1, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



751 



irrigated sections in Colorado and adjoining 

 states." 



Only about ten years was devoted to the 

 work outlined above. In that brief period he 

 accomplished much. His farm was an experi- 

 ment station teeming with possibilities when 

 adverse circumstances caused him to give up 

 this work. In a short time he turned his at- 

 tention entirely to collecting and he became a 

 botanical explorer. He began his collections 

 in Vermont, but gradually extended his field 

 to include the lower St. Lawrence, the Pacific 

 slope, the southwestern states and territories, 

 and finally Mexico. 



Early in his career as a botanical collector 

 of rare ferns in the Green mountains, he be- 

 came acquainted with Professor Asa Gray, 

 who later styled him " the prince of botanical 

 collectors." Dr. Gray was engaged at that 

 time upon his " Synoptical Flora of North 

 America " and he assigned to Dr. Priugle the 

 investigation of the flora of Mexico, " charging 

 him, as they sat with a map spread before 

 them, to ascertain especially the southern limit 

 of distribution of species found in the United 

 States and also to ascertain what related spe- 

 cies might be indigenous in the adjacent re- 

 gions of Mexico." 



His first trip to Mexico was begun February 

 25, 1885. He was cordially received by the 

 Mexican government ofiicials, who gave him 

 every possible assistance in his work, including 

 letters to subordinates, special police protec- 

 tion when necessary, railroad passes for him- 

 self and assistants, etc. During the following 

 twenty-six years he made thirty-nine trips 

 to Mexico, sometimes bringing home large 

 collections, sometimes returning emptyhanded 

 on account of sickness either of himself or 

 his assistant. During this period he was 

 able to travel over large areas and collect from 

 many localities. He collected the desert flora 

 of the arid interior plains of the great north- 

 ern states; the alpine plants from the moun- 

 tains capped with perpetual snow; the rich 

 flora of the tropical jungles along the coast and 

 lowlands. 



As ofiicial collector for Harvard and the 

 National Museum, he made for each institu- 



tion a set of all his collections in addition to 

 the set which he made for his own herbarium. 

 However, he did not confine himself to these 

 three sets, but attempted in every case to col- 

 lect 60 extra sets for purposes of sale and 

 exchange. These sets are to be found in all 

 the large herbaria of the world. I believe it 

 is now impossible to furnish complete sets. 

 He brought out of Mexico alone over 12,000 

 numbers, very many of which were new to 

 science. 



His own herbarium, now the property of the 

 University of Vermont, " The Pringle Her- 

 barium," contains about 160,000 mounted 

 plants and occupies two rooms, each 40 by 45 

 feet, in addition to ofiice and storeroom. He 

 was very busy the past winter making ex- 

 changes and buying plants to increase its size. 

 The additions he made this year will approxi- 

 mate 30,000. 



During the past year Dr. Pringle, although 

 far from being as vigorous in bodily health as 

 he was mentally, hoped to make another trip. 

 Owing to the revolution in Mexico, he was 

 considering South America as a field for this 

 work, but his indomitable will and energy had 

 carried him beyond his strength and an attack 

 of pneumonia together with other complica- 

 tions cut short the life that had been so full of 

 energy and masterful achievements.' 



George P. Burns 



University of Vermont 



THE INAUGUSATION OF TEOMAS EDWABD 



HODGES AS PRESIDENT OF WEST 



VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY 



The formal inauguration of Dr. Thomas E. 

 Hodges, late member of the State Board of 

 Control, and formerly professor in the uni- 

 versity, as president of the State University 

 of West Virginia took place on Friday, No- 

 vember 3, 1911. 



The various exercises incident to the inau- 

 guration lasted several days, and were ini- 

 tiated by President Taft, on Wednesday morn- 

 ing, when he addressed a large gathering of 



' An extended biography of Dr. Pringle by Pro- 

 fessor Ezra Brainard will soon appear in Rhodora. 



