EDITORIAL. 
The Need of an American ‘ Leuniss.’? — Of making books, we 
are told, there is no end; but there is one kind of book which we 
Americans need which has yet to be made. The greatest desidera- 
tum is a work after the pattern of the German “ Leuniss,” which is 
in constant use in every laboratory and museum abroad, but which 
is unrepresented by any corresponding work in the English language. 
It is now many years since Leuniss issued the first edition of a 
synopsis of the three kingdoms of nature, and the work now consists 
of seven large volumes, two treating of zodlogy, three of botany, and 
two of mineralogy and geology. These give general accounts of the 
various groups and follow by giving analytical keys to the principal 
families, genera, and species, the typical forms being illustrated by 
thoroughly characteristic engravings. As we have said, there is 
nothing to correspond in the English language, and for American 
students a translation would be of little value, as our flora, fauna, 
and geology are so different from those of central Europe. What we 
must have is a similar work in which American forms are made 
prominent. It is true that we have several manuals which include 
parts of our forms: Jordan has treated of our vertebrates, Gray 
some of our flowering plants ; there is a considerable literature upon 
insects, ferns, mosses, etc., but the general work has yet to be written. 
No one man can do the work; it must be by the codperation of 
several or even many specialists, and we have in our country the 
necessary specialists to produce a work which will be far ahead of 
its German prototype. In the hands of our publishers, our maga- 
zines, and of the United States government, are numbers of cuts 
which could be available for illustration. We wish that we were 
able to announce that such a work was in preparation, but unfortu- 
nately no intimations of the prospects of such a work have reached 
us. The American Naturalist will do all in its power to further 
such a work, should it be undertaken. 
