ee Neer. 
FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 1884. 
COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 
Rarey have all the conditions for abound- 
ing physical research been so admirably met ; 
rarely has one so fortunate as to be in absolute 
command of such circumstances been removed 
in the very prime of life: but still more rarely 
has the unfinished work of a scientific man, 
called away under these relations, — only mak- 
ing the fate more inexorable, and the loss more 
sad, — fallen into hands so competent and ap- 
preciative as those of the late Dr. Henry Draper. 
His work on astronomical spectrum-photogra- 
phy has, since his lamented death in 1882, been 
reduced and discussed by Professor Young of 
Princeton, and Professor Pickering of Cam- 
bridge, and recently published in the Proceed- 
ings of the American academy of arts and 
sciences. We present in another column a 
notice of these researches, and may recall, in 
this connection, the second issue of Science, 
wherein the points of chief interest in the life 
of Dr. Draper, and the character, in outline, of 
the more important of his researches, were 
concisely dealt with. Notwithstanding his fond- 
ness for writing, the original published papers 
of Dr. Draper number only about a score; but 
many of them represent months, and in some 
cases years, of consecutive investigation. Had 
he been spared but a few years more, there 
can be little doubt that the world of science 
would, as has been said by one who knew 
him most intimately, have been enriched with 
a wealth of discovery almost unparalleled. 
The calamity of his death has been to some 
extent mitigated by the painstaking study of his 
spectrographic work which Professors Young 
and Pickering have made ; Dr. Draper’s method 
as an investigator being such that his death 
has rendered it possible for his co-workers to 
derive these results substantially as he would 
have done himself. To all scientific men en- 
No. 71.—1884. 
gaged in original investigation, however, his 
sudden death must constitute a potent reminder 
of the desirability of publication proceeding 
almost simultaneously with research itself. 
THe imminent danger of extinction which 
threatens many of the rare plants of the Swiss 
Alps has led to the formation of a society for 
their preservation. On reading the account 
of this society, presented in another column, 
the question naturally arises, Are any of our 
rarer species likewise in danger of extermi- 
nation? With the exception of the extensive 
raids which are annually made upon some of 
our native plants by herb-collectors (and it 
must be understood that this business has as- 
sumed very considerable proportions, especially 
at the South), there are no very large drafts 
made which imperil the existence of the less 
common species. ‘To be sure, in a few locali- 
ties the mayflower and the climbing fern 
have been extirpated by the greed of collectors 
for the market; but it can hardly be said that 
these beautiful species are yet in peril. The 
same is true of the medicinal plants, ginseng 
and mandrake. It is fortunate that most 
species collected for medicinal purposes are 
reasonably prolific, and will doubtless hold out 
until those now in fashion have been discarded 
by other aspirants for popular and professional 
favor. 
Nor are our rarer mountain-plants in any 
immediate peril. Those who have observed 
the difficulty apparently experienced by the at- 
tendants in White-Mountain hotels, in work- 
ing up a ‘boom’ in dried plants, feel little 
apprehension that the localities will become 
exhausted. And it should further be noted, 
that our botanists who collect for exchange are 
generally very prudent in their use of the rarer 
species. There is, however, some danger lest 
the interesting localities where species are 
found somewhat out of place, so to speak. — 
