The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-12

because. after reading the biographi.
cal sketches at issue, we assume, as
DIR. BARNHARr does, that they were
the work Of one person. DIR. BARN.
HAEr says that "the element o. same
ness that characterizes these accounts
not conspicuous when scattered
through the volumes of the Cyclop@
dia but very evident when they are
brought together as has been done
here, Is an added proof, IL any were
needed, Of their spurious character"
Surely 1t is evidence of a single au-
thorship. DIR. BARNHARr reprints In
the Journal the sketches Of fourteen
putative botanists. Eleven of these he
calls wholly fictitious" The names
Of the eleven and the dates and places
Of their supposed deaths and births,
as the opening lines Of the sketches
f, appear in the Cyclopedla, we offer
here for public scrutiny:
KsHR, GUSTAV HERMAN, German bot
anist. b. in Freysingen In 1881; d. in
Magdeburg In 1899.
/ KERoKHovE, LoRENz wENcEsLAs,
Dutch naturalist. b. in Bois lie Due in
1855: d. in Amsterdam in 1889.
KJoxPrNo, CLAUS, Swedish explorer.
b. in Daiecarlia in 1874; d. in soroe,
Denmark. in 1909.
KoEHLER, ALEXANDER DANIEL, German
botanist. b. in Altenkirchen, Rugen ISL
and. is April. 1863; d. in Langenbran-
den. wurttembers. 8 Dec, 1928.
LorTER, FREDERIC AUGUST, German bot
anist. b. In Kieinaupe. Moravia, In
1741; d. In Gotha in 1906.
MoRrrER, EDoUARp LOUIS, French nat
uralist, b. in Mulhouse in 1901; d. in
Rio Janeiro in 1852.
NAscHER. FRIEDRICH WILHELM, Ger
man naturalist. b. In Newent. England,
in 17o2; d. in Paderborn, westphalia,
, In 1854
RAMffK, SrANIsLAs HENRI DE LA,
French naturalist. b. in Perigueux in
1877: d. in Fontainebleau In 1903.
THBAupfN, CASTOR LOUIS, French ex-
plorer. b. in Dunkirlk in 1927; d. in
Lima. Peru. in 1896.
VIvIER. JACQUES pu, b. In Lorent.
France. in 172o; d. there in 1898.
WALLERToN. CHARLES LOUIS AuousrE,
French naturalist. b. in Sainte-Mene-
hould in 1871: d. in Nancy in 1888.
Remembering that Appleton's Is a
work of American biography and that
the only foreigners welcomed to 1t
were men and women who visited the
Western Hemisphere on important er-
rands, It is interesting to note that
all Of these supposed scientists de-
nounced by DR.. BARNHART were born
In Europe; and, further, that none Of
them died In the United States. Nor
TIER and THIBAUDIN are put down as
having died in South America. Not one
OF the eleven was inferred by their
biographer In cemetery where the
headstone or the absence of 1t might
come before the watchful eye and the
long. memory of JOHN FIsKE, who,
with JAMES GRANT WILSON, edited
the Cyclopedia. If that is not a good
reason why thirty years passed with
out denunciation Of the sketches
we may also suggest that the biog-
raphies themselves. by their modesty
n 9 -aI1 no tCir
able to pass muster until they came
under the examination Of one who
spends all his days in the scrutiny Of
books about flowers and plants. As
an example of the genius Of the au-
thor of the sketches let us quote his
short life OF GUSTAV HERMAN kerr:
He was professor in the univer-
stiles of Tdbingen and Halle. and
afterward libTrian of the Prince OF
Lippe- Detmold. who sent him in 1921
TO America to study the plants OF
that country. KEHR went hrst to
New Spain. and after several years
crossed the Isthmus of Panama and.
sailing for Patagonia, studied the
plants Of the country that is now the
Argentine Republic from 1924 till
1899. visiting afterward Chile. Bra 4.
Eli and Peru. On his return he pub
lished. among other works. De Sexu
Plantarum' (Magdeburg, 1e31);
'Aphorisme Botanice' (Tdbingen.
1899; Historic Generals Planta-
rum Americanarum' 6 vols, Halle,
1880: 'Grundlehren der Anatomie
und Physioiogie der Phanzen Won
America (Magdeburg. 1850; Ser
tum Patagonicum ct Florula Peru
viensis' "a vols, Dresden, 1880;
'Cryptogama B-asilensis alb Gusta-
Nus Kehr Co.iecte' (Magdeburg.
1632). and Reisen in America @
vols. 1897"
Could anything sound more plausi-
BILE? To the general reader 1t runs
as proof Of holy writ, but 1t Ia not at
all plausible to DR.. BABNHART. In
the first place. he says, the earliest
work on sex In plants was not pub
lished until 1894. Again, the word
"cryptogamla" was not coined by
IhNNAEus until 1737, and "crypto-
game" is still later form. Third,