Bibliographical and miscellaneous notes

C. G. G. J. VAN STEENIS, Maleische Vegetatieschetsen — Toelichting bij de plantengeografisohe kaart van Nederlandsch Oost-Indië (Sketches of Malaysian vegetations — Comments to the phytogeographical map of Netherlands East India) — Reprinted from the „Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap”, Ser. II, Vol. 52, Jan.-March-May 1935, 112 pp. (repagination [Pages in the original: 25—67, 171—203, 363—398] with 46 photographs, 36 of which in the reprint only, and a phytogeographical map. The reprint preceded by a short preface, a (too) short index and a dedication to FRANZ JUNGHUHN „as a memory to his arrival in Java, one hundred years ago”. It is a great pleasure to me indeed to announce here, more particularly on behalf of those readers who are not familiar with the Dutch language, this excellent work on the phytogeography of Malaysia, published in the Journal of the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society and therefore, moreover, likely less accessible to many botanists abroad. The author has, though only about 6 years engaged in botanical work in the tropics, gathered a remarkably thorough knowledge of the rich flora of this region, no doubt one of the most interesting ones, from a biogeographic standpoint, on earth. As the phytogeography of these parts has mostly, since JUNGHUHN’S „Java” (1854), been only dealt with in scattered papers, VAN STEENIS has in the publication under reference, as well as in some others that preceded it ¹), done a pioneer work in his attempt to give a comprehensive and more or less complete survey of the current problems. Our gratitude and admiration is not in the least diminished by the fact that this work shows certain traces of cursoriness and disequilibriousness, as well as a certain want of continuity and well-ponderedness. These features are mostly inherent to all pioneer work and the author himself states in the preface, that this work is meant as a provisional publication; this is in accordance with the title, which, by the way, could have been more adequately chosen, e. g.: Materials to Malaysian Phytogeography („Maleische” is, in my opinion, in Dutch a less felicitous word). Indeed, this paper contains a great many informations and stimulating ideas, and moreover, an almost complete bibliography, also of many papers in Dutch. It may be supposed indeed that there is, at present, hardly any other botanist available who is more capable than VAN STEENIS to continue this work and to prepare, some time, a complete „Phytogeography of Malaysia”, to which we are looking forward with great interest.