90 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



serration of natural monuments in Prussia, this- bureau advises as 

 to and promotes legislation regarding reservations, bird refuges, etc. 

 It is in constant touch with the authorities and with societies inter- 

 ested in these subjects. It also endeavors to raise the funds needed 

 to purchase or to protect landscapes, etc. This bureau is situated in 

 the former Botanical Museum Building, and has a number of 

 spacious, well-lighted rooms for lectures, for the library, and for the 

 use of the staff. 



The library contains about 4,500 volumes of all the literature per- 

 taining to nature protection and natural history, a complete collec- 

 tion of maps of all kinds, pictures, photographs and lantern slides. 

 Very valuable is the bibliographical collection, which contains some 

 15.000 cards, with headings covering the whole field of the care of 

 natural monuments, protection of nature, and kindred matters. It 

 has been the endeavor of the bureau to collect all the foreign litera- 

 ture possible ; and information and literature concerning the Ameri- 

 can National Parks and Monuments are particularly complete. The 

 cards concerned with the most important publications contain an 

 abbreviated synopsis of their contents. 



In all parts of the country, that is. in all the Prussian provinces, 

 committees for the care and protection of natural monuments have 

 been established, and these keep in intimate touch with the central 

 office. In all. there are 41 such committees in Prussia. They are 

 presided over by some higher official, but the actual work is in the 

 hands of an experienced and educated naturalist. These committees 

 Send out questionnaires concerning natural monuments in their terri- 

 tory, keep in touch with public opinion, provide public lectures and 

 information, raise funds, issue publications, etc. The State Bureau 

 holds weekly conferences where the whole field of interest is dis- 

 cussed, and since 1908 annual conferences lasting from one to two 

 days have been held, in which delegates from the whole of Germanv 

 and even from foreign countries have been present. 



The State Bureau also issues important publications, among which 

 are Bcitrage zur Naturdenkmalpflege herausgegeben von H. 

 Conwentz. vols. I— VII (Gebriider Borntrager. Berlin) ; Natur- 

 denkmaler, Vortrage und Aufs'dtze, Xos. 1-22 (Gebriider Born- 

 trager, Berlin) ; being popular discussions of various themes of 

 nature protection intended to awaken general interest and under- 

 standing for the aims of nature protection : and also a very good 

 English work. The Core of Natural Monuments with Special Refer- 



