Plant and Animal Preserves in Europe 87 



by means of lectures, literature, etc. At present it has great diffi- 

 culties to contend with in counteracting the lawlessness and indif- 

 ference, particularly of the lower classes. The breeding colonies 

 are in great danger because of promiscuous and reckless egg stealing, 

 which is the result of undernourishment among large portions of 

 the people and the great scarcity of eggs at all times and in all 

 places. 



Plant and Nature Protection in Germany 



Plant protection may be carried out in two ways : either by the 

 reserving and protecting of larger or smaller land areas upon which 

 the plants to be protected are situated, or by the issuing of general 

 regulations for the protection of specified plants in all areas under 

 consideration whereby a special reservation of the land is not abso- 

 lutely required. There are quite a considerable number of smaller 

 reservations in Germany where plant life is protected and the rare 

 specimens are classified as natural monuments. 



A natural monument is now defined as a particularly character- 

 istic formation of nature, especially when in situ, and which has 

 remained entirely, or almost entirely, untouched by the progress of 

 cultivation. To these belong areas of natural beauty or specific in- 

 terest ; formations of the earth which are of special interest for the 

 knowledge of the history of the globe or of geology; botanical or zoo- 

 logical formations of interest for their rarity, variety, or other scien- 

 tific value; certain species of plants and animals, particularly at the 

 frontier lines of demarcation of their geographic or historic distribu- 

 tion ; and individual plants prominent for their growth, shape and age. 

 The necessity for protecting plant life, and the beauties of nature 

 connected with it, has not always been sufficiently regarded in Ger- 

 many, but gradually a widespread interest in preserving rare and 

 threatened plants and landscapes arose; and in 1898, in the Prussian 

 House of Delegates, Wetekamp, a delegate, pointed out the vital 

 importance of definite steps for protection, and thus concentrated 

 the attention of the parliament upon the matter. 



Professor Conwentz, at that time Director of the West Prussian 

 Provincial Museum in Danzig, published a memorial pointing out 

 the endangering of primeval forests and demanding small reserva- 

 tions and an inventory of the notable trees and plants in the forests. 

 Conwentz somewhat later published the first forest botanical mem- 

 orandum for the province of West Prussia, upon request of the 

 Department of Agriculture, and in connection therewith an epoch- 



