Hermann Graf zu Solms-Lauhach. 



XXV 



amusing, and with a wealth of knowledge of all kinds rarely equalled. He 

 was a great traveller and endowed with a wonderful memory, so that he was 

 full of intimate reminiscences of many lands. Jost tells us how a Eussian 

 friend said of him, " He knows Moscow better than I do." The writer can 

 say the same of Solms' knowledge of this country. He was often in England, 

 where his tall figure and striking features were familiar at many scientific 

 meetings ; on his first visit, in the sixties, he was a guest of Sir William 

 Hooker's at Kew. His English was fluent, but original. Some of his best 

 friends were Englishmen ; in particular he was much attached to the late 

 Prof. W. C. Williamson, whose work he was the first to appreciate. To 

 those whom he found congenial — and he was not hard to please — Solms 

 was an absolutely true and faithful friend, generous and open-hearted. 



When in England he took a great interest in the country and its Natural 

 History, as well as in the people. He was much impressed by the wild 

 box trees on Box Hill, and when in Hampshire a few years ago showed 

 great pleasure at seeing bluebells {Scilla mitam) wild for the first time in 

 his life. 



Solms received various marks of recognition iu this country ; he was 

 elected a Foreign Member of the Eoyal Society in 1902, and received a 

 similar honour from the Linnean Society in 1887, the Eoyal Microscopical 

 Society in 1895, and the Geological Society in 1906. The Honorary Degree 

 of Sc.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Cambridge at the 

 Darwin Celebration iu 1909. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the 

 Linnean Society in 1911, coming over in person to receive it, an occasion 

 on which he made a graceful speech in returning thanks. 



Solms was so well known and appreciated in this country, and had such 

 a friendly feeling for us, that the declaration of war must have been a great 

 blow to him. Jost, after speaking of Solms' jiiany friends in England, adds, 

 " Um so grosser war im August, 1914, sein Schmerz, als er sehen musste, 

 dass auch solche Freunde dem deutschen Volk den Krieg erklarten,"— rather 

 a pathetic expression of the German point of view. 



Dr. Jongmans informs us that while Solms did not agree with the 

 "stupidities" of certain German extremists, he was much annoyed at some 

 English war publications depreciating German science and asserting the 

 impossibility of future scientific collaboration. He was convinced that 

 science must always be international. Dr. Lotsy writes: " He certainly was 

 a good German, but in the best sense of the word." 



Finally, the writer is permitted to quote a letter from Miss G. Lister, 

 F.L.S., with which this notice may appropriately conclude : " I felt a great 

 personality had passed away when I saw a few days ago in ' Nature' that 



Count Solms was dead How well I remember his kindly behaviour 



towards us when my father and I came to Strasburg to look through De Bary's 

 Myxos — the fine room we were given to work in, and his daily visits to see 

 how we were getting on — always with a cigarette in his fingers, and the 

 request 'Is it permitted?' before he smoked, and his planning a little 



