952 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 441. 



The turning point lias been reached in the 

 history of this really great undertaking. The 

 chief support has come through the generosity 

 of the Swiss government, and it is hoped that 

 the American government and some of the 

 leading American institutions will unite in 

 placing this work upon a secure foundation. 

 Naturally one of the first questions asked is 

 how the undertaking is regarded abroad, and 

 why it should receive the united support of 

 workers in the various lines of natural history. 

 There are several striking proofs of the esteem 

 in which the concilium is held on the con- 

 tinent. Through the death of Professor 

 Carus, who has given his entire life to bib- 

 liography, almost without remuneration, a 

 vacancy has occurred which the concilium has 

 been invited to fill. It is a matter of con- 

 tinuing the zoological bibliography conducted 

 by one who has been universally acknowl- 

 edged to be a master in his subject and which 

 reaches back without interruption to the year 

 1700. Before agreeing to undertake to carry 

 on this work, the concilium is brought to face 

 obligations which it can not fulfill without 

 new support. At the same time the botanists 

 on the continent, impressed with the thorough- 

 ness of the work of the concilium, at the inter- 

 national conference held in Leiden on April 

 16, voted to place the editorship of the well- 

 known botanical bibliography in the hands of 

 the concilium, as soon as funds could be ob- 

 tained for doing the work. In both these 

 cases, zoology and botany, it is only a small 

 portion of the entire expense that is needed, 

 but failure to obtain this comparatively small 

 aid will make it impossible for the concilium 

 to undertake these Aew duties. Meanwhile 

 a number of European geologists are await- 

 ing the results of these negotiations, with a 

 view to establishing a geological section of 

 the concilium similar to that of other parts 

 of the institution. This endorsement from 

 workers in three entirely separate fields, ar- 

 rived at entirely independently, is so striking 

 that it needs no further comment. Never 

 was the conjunction of circumstances for se- 

 curing a thoroughly adequate bibliography of 

 an entire group of natural sciences more 



marked. It is hoped, therefore, that the efEort 

 that Dr. Field is now making here wiU. be 

 crowned with success. 



The special needs of the concilium are, in 

 the order of importance : $3,500 for improve- 

 ments in the Zurich plant, especially for the 

 acquisition of a linotype printing machine; 

 $4,000 for the liquidation of an accumulated 

 debt; and at least $1,000 additional for cur- 

 rent expenses. 



Dr. Field especially invites criticisms and 

 suggestions upon the work as it is now being 

 carried on. From several persons the criticism 

 has been made to the present writer that the 

 cards accumulate too rapidly and are some- 

 what difficult of arrangement. This difficulty, 

 in the nature of ernbarras de richesse, has 

 been felt in many laboratories. It will be 

 readily obviated, first, by the introduction of 

 the guide cards which are supplied by the 

 concilium, and which make the arrangement 

 of the titles a purely mechanical matter; sec- 

 ond, it is proposed, wherever desired, to limit 

 the number of cards sent out which relate to 

 certain local faunae and are of purely local in- 

 terest. These, and any other matters of crit- 

 icism which may arise. Dr. Field, as director 

 of the concilium, will be glad to receive and 

 carefully consider as suggestions for improve- 

 ment of the service. All those who are using 

 the cards appreciate that, whatever criticisms 

 as to details may be made, the concilium is 

 doing a magnificent work, a work far sur- 

 passing in accuracy and fulness and readiness 

 of arrangement that which has been done or 

 is now being done elsewhere. Many of the 

 former critics and opponents of the concilium 

 are now recognizing its superiority, and it is 

 certainly to be most earnestly desired that 

 the United States should strongly support an 

 undertaking which has been conceived and 

 carried out only through the persistence, 

 energy and devotion of an American. 



Henry Fairfield Osborn. 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OP TEE 

 BIRTHDAY OP JUSTUS VON LIEBIG. 

 On the twelfth of May, by invitation of the 

 New York Section of the Verein Deutscher 



