Editorial

Twenty-four years have elapsed since the Institution, then called „’s Rijks Herbarium”, started a series of papers entitled „Mededeelingen van ’s Rijks Herbarium, Leiden”. Exactly 70 numbers have been issued between 1910 and 1933 inclusive, most of them under the directorate of Dr J. W. C. GOETHART, to whom many thanks are due for his arduous work and his many cares in favour of these publications. After the undersigned, oil October 2nd, 1933, had taken over the directorate of the Rijksherbarium from the acting director, Dr W. A. GODDIJN, he could start realizing some projects which, in relation to his tropical experience, seemed more or less promising. First of all it was obvious that the Rijksherbarium should, to a greater degree than had been possible during the last decennia, contribute to the investigation of the flora of the Netherlands Indies. Effectuating this idea seems possible by a closer collaboration with the Herbarium of the Botanical Gardens of Buitenzorg, Java, with whose officers it was my privilege to come to an agreement before I left the colony. Another point to be considered was the establishment of a closer contact with the State University at Leiden, the herbarium of which has been united with the Rijksherbarium since 1832. This contact has been rather loose in various periods of the existence of the Rijksherbarium and in developing it, the details will have to be carefully studied and sounded, lest the archive value of the collection should be decreased. Without taking any risk as to this point, which cannot be fully compensated by the advantages, it is thought that a closer contact is both possible and desirable, as it may further two important interests: in the first place it is intended to exploit and to peruse both more intensively and more extensively the treasures of this Herbarium, and secondly an attempt will be made to increase the number of students in the field of investigation that is allotted to the institution.