EDITORIAL. 
191 
OBITUARIES. 
Otto  Carl  Berg  was  born  at  Stettin,  Prussia,  August  15th,  1815, 
where  his  father  was  located  as  physician  and  medical  counsellor.  He 
was  the  fourth  among  seven  brothers,  and  lost  his  father  when  in  his  sev- 
enth year.  He  was  educated  at  the  private  school  of  Rev.  Bindemann^  at 
Neuendorf,  and  afterwards  at  the  Stettin  Gymnasium  (classical  school). 
From  1831  to  1835  he  served  his  apprenticeship  at  Demmin,  where  he 
devoted  the  early  morning  hours  to  collecting  and  examining  plants.  After 
passing  his  examination  as  clerk  (Gehilfe),  and  serving  as  such  in  several 
places,  he  went  to  the  university  of  Berlin  in  the  spring  of  1838,  and  in 
June,  1839,  passed  the  State's  examinations  as  apothecary,  when  for  about 
a  year  after  the  laboratory  of  the  <l  Pelican  "  pharmacy  in  Berlin  was  under 
his  charge. 
Being  without  means  and  without  prospects  to  establish  himself,  he  con- 
cluded to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  botany,  and  while  continuing  his 
studies  gained  his  livelihood  by  preparing  young  pharmaceutists  for  the 
state  examinations,  commenced  his  Handbook  of  Pharmaceutical  Botany, 
and  prepared  himself  for  matriculation  at  the  University  of  Berlin,  where 
he  absolved  his  three  years'  studies  in  1845,  in  which  year  the  first  edition 
of  his  11  Handbook"  appeared  in  print. 
•    In  1848  Berg  was  promoted  by  the  philosophical  faculty,  and  established 
•  himself  in  1849  as  private  lecturer  on  pharmaceutical  botany  and  pharma- 
cognosy. After  the  death  of  Professor  Link,  the  eminent  botanist,  who 
had  been  his  warm  friend,  he  became  a  member  of  the  examining  commit- 
tee, and  continued  to  work  in  both  spheres  to  his  death. 
As  a  teacher  he  was  clear  and  objective,  and  excellent  in  diagnosis;  as 
a  man  he  was  noble  and  good,  grave  in  consequence  of  the  cares  of  his 
early  life,  and  his  unceasing  labors,  but  modest  and  cheerful  in  his  inter- 
course. A  short  journey  during  the  summer  holidays  excepted,  he  was 
engaged  throughout  the  yea.r  with  his  lectures  and  private  instructions,  from 
early  in  the  morning  until  7  or  8  o'clock  in  the  evening.  During  the  sum- 
mer the  Sundays  were  devoted  to  botanical  excursions  ;  in  winter  to  mi- 
croscopical examinations  of  botanical  objects  ;  the  large  number  of  his 
pupils  were  then  admitted  in  groups  for  one  hour  each. 
Besides  numerous  essays  published  in  journals  he  issued  the  following 
works,  copiously  embellished  with  microscopical  drawings  executed  by 
himself:  Handbook  of  Pharmaceutical  Botany  (five  editions,  1845-66); 
Pharmacognosy  (three  editions,  1851-63) ;  Characteristics  of  the  Genera 
of  Officinal  Plants  (two  editions,  1848-62)  ;  Representation  and  Descrip- 
tion of  the  Officinal  Plants  (in  34  parts,  1853-64)  ;  Anatomical  Atlas  of 
the  Cinchona  Barks  contained  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  University  of  Berlin 
(1864)  ;  Monograph  of  the  Myrtacese  of  Brazil,  and  the  unfinished  results 
of  nine  years' labor  :  A  Monograph  of  the  Melastomacese  of  Brazil.  He 
was  also  co-laborer  and  author  of  the  botanical  and  pharmacological  parts 
