5.3.1 The SFFF
The war had not paralysed the publishing activities of the SFFF. On the contrary, the president, Palmén, was confident of the scientific standard of the research, announc-ing that the time of mere observations was comannounc-ing to an end and the era of proper biological research was well under way.832 Many papers were offered and new projects launched. To celebrate the centenary, the society decided to begin writing the his-tory of the society, descriptions of the collections in the natural hishis-tory museums and bibliographies of zoological and botanical literature.833 Furthermore, Professor Kaarlo Mainio Levander made a motion on the reformation of the Bulletin so that it would appear four times a year, together with a supplement – a popular zoological-botani-cal journal which would be more suited to the general reading public.834 Levander’s plans, however, were postponed, due to the difficult times.835 Another ambitious idea was to translate into German all the major works of J. P. Norrlin, the path breaker of botanic geography, to make them available for international distribution.836
Peacetime brought with it difficulties. The society lost its long-time president when Palmén died in April, 1919.837 In economic terms, inflation multiplied the price of paper and printing. In the autumn of 1920, the situation became so critical that all printing of the SFFF had to be suspended. The members of the board were requested to approach potential private financiers838 and the society raised the prices of its pub-lications significantly – 600–1000% .839 The annual government subsidy was raised to 37,500 marks in 1921.840 Appeal to donators proved successful and the centenary pub-lications of the society received over 100,000 marks in support from firms and private
832 Annual report of the SFFF 1917. In MEDDELANDEN 43 (1917), pp. 188-207.
833 Minutes of the SFFF 3 March 1917 § 8; 15 December 1917 § 4. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1.
Book 9. FNL.
834 Minutes of the SFFF 15 December 1917 § 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 9. FNL.
See also annual report of SFFF 1917. In MEDDELANDEN 44 (1918), pp. 176-187.
835 Minutes of the SFFF 4 May 1918 § 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 9. FNL.
836 Minutes of the SFFF 13 May 1918 § 10. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA 1162:1. Book 9. FNL.
837 Annual report of the SFFF 1919. In MEDDELANDEN 45 (1920), pp. 226-240.
838 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 15 October 1920 § 4, 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20.
Book 2. FNL.
839 Minutes of the SFFF 4 December 1920 § 20. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 9. FNL.
840 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 1 February 1921 § 9. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20.
Book 2; minutes of the SFFF 5 February 1921 § 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10. FNL;
annual report of the SFFF 1921. In MEDDELANDEN 47 (1921), pp. 119-134.
persons.841 Optimism returned. When the statutes of the SFFF were readjusted, the scope of the society was defined more broadly than before. The new president, Alvar Palmgren, wished that, in addition to traditional botany and zoology, the society should include in its programme biology in general and publish its research results in a new serial Acta Biologica.842 The idea found supporters, but in the current economic situation, it appeared to be too ambitious. At the next meeting, Professor Fredrik Elfving suggested that various societies might publish Acta Biologica together.843 The matter was not discussed in the SFFF any more, but the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, where Elfving was an active member, launched a new serial, Commen-tationes biologicae, in 1922.844
The monetary situation recovered temporarily as a result of the centenary, but in the following year a new crisis emerged and even the printing of the Bulletin had to be postponed.845 The government subsidy rose to 105,000 marks in 1926, and to 130,000 marks in 1928. In addition, the SFFF began to receive the profit funds of the state lottery.846 At the beginning of the 1930s, the depression cut government subsidies but, fortunately, the lottery funds rose.847 Private donations were occasionally received, although they were small in comparison with governmental funding.848 Extra subsidy was admitted for Brotherus’ handbook on mosses, Die Laubmoose Fennoscandias, which formed the first volume of the series Flora Fennica.849 Another series, Fauna Fennica, was launched in 1924, when Richard Frey was promised the funding for a handbook on Diptera haplostomata.850 However, although some big projects were suc-cessfully promoted, others were forgotten due to the financial situation. For instance, an idea to translate into German and publish the central works of Ragnar Hult in the field of botanic geography was first postponed and then discarded.851 The translation of Norrlin’s works was transferred to the Finnish Society of Forest Science.852
Despite the constant economic pressure, the SFFF was determined to develop its journals. The old question concerning the relation between Acta and the Bulletin
841 Minutes of the SFFF 2 April 1921 § 21; 7 May 1921 § 6; 1 October 1921 § 21. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10. FNL; annual report of the SFFF 1921. In MEDDELANDEN 47 (1921), pp. 119-134.
842 Minutes of the SFFF 2 April 1921 § 13. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10. FNL.
843 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 5 May 1921 § 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
844 Elfving 1938, pp. 134-135.
845 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 10 May 1922 § 1. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
846 Annual report of the SFFF 1928. In MEMORANDA 4 (1928), pp. 253-276.
847 Annual report of the SFFF 1934. In MEMORANDA 10 (1933-35), pp. 452-465.
848 Minutes of the SFFF 6 October 1928 § 13. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10; minutes of the board of the SFFF 24 January 1929 § 15. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
849 Annual report of the SFFF 1923. In MEDDELANDEN 49 (1925), pp. 179-195; minutes of the board of the SFFF 3 November 1923 § 3. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL. The book also had remarkable reduction to the price of the paper, from the Kymmene paper factory.
850 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 2 May 1924 § 2. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL; annual report of the SFFF 1924. In MEDDELANDEN 50 (1925), pp. 93-114.
851 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 26 November 1925 § 13; 28 November 1927 § 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL; Palmgren 1958, p. 40.
852 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 15 October 1920 § 7. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20.
Book 2. FNL. They were published in 1923. See Halonen 2009, p. 29.
re-emerged in 1921, when school teacher August Parvela offered his paper, describ-ing the flora of the district Oulainen, to the Centenary-Acta. Elfvdescrib-ing criticised the decision of publishing it in Acta, stating that the descriptions of this kind, which aroused only domestic interest, fitted better in the Bulletin. The board considered, however, that papers for the jubilee volume were requested from all members and so Parvela’s paper was accepted.853 Nevertheless, soon after the centenary festivities the board discussed the future of Acta, planning to divide the botanical and zoological papers into separate serials. Each volume would have a separate editor to supervise its content, the printing process and the length of the papers; only those arousing general interest would be accepted after being reviewed by two referees. In addition to these reforms, President Palmgren suggested that only papers written in the big civilised languages would be accepted to new Acta series, but this proposal was put aside.854 In 1923, the board decided to launch these new serials, Acta Zoologica Fennica (AZF) and Acta Botanica Fennica (ABF), but also to continue the old Acta, in which the previously accepted papers and multivolumed books, such as Conspectus Florae Fennicae, would be published.855 The format of the ABF and AZF was to be similar with the journals of other societies because it made possible the common publish-ing, hence saving costs and widening the distribution.856 Some features were adopted from the international journals. For instance, the day of printing was marked in each paper.857 These reforms were a consequence of increasing international and domestic competition – another Finnish biological society, Vanamo, had recently widened its activities to international publishing and launched its own scientific Annales series, which mostly included papers in German. Furthermore, on the eve of the First World War, the Finnish Society of Forest Science had founded its own serial, Acta Forestalia Fennica, aimed at international distribution as well.858
Palmgren returned to the issue of language in the annual report of 1926, where he contemplated it alongside the prospects of widening the international exchanges of the SFFF:
853 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 1 June 1921 § 8. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
854 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 19 November 1921 § 2. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20.
Book 2. FNL; annual report of the SFFF 1922. In MEDDELANDEN 48 (1925), p. 210-226. The phrase in the big civilised languages (in Finnish: suurilla sivistyskielillä), which usually meant writing in German, French or English, sometimes even in Latin, Italian or Spanish, was widely used at the time. Also the terms in European languages, International languages, World languages or even Christian languages were used. See Garritzen 2011, p. 204.
855 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 27 October 1923 § 2. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20.
Book 2. FNL.
856 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 12 May 1925 § 10. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL; annual report of the SFFF 1925. In MEMORANDA 1 (1927), pp. 127-136.
857 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 9 February 1928 § 7. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20.
Book 2. FNL.
858 Saalas 1946, pp. 224-229, 330-335, 346-349; Halonen 2009, pp. 137-141.
Naturally, it is not enough that our publications end on the desks of scientists; they have to be understood as well. Therefore, if they include findings which interest international science they should be published in some world language.859
Palmgren passed the baton to the financiers of the science, for he considered that the use of domestic languages was due to the economically difficult position which hindered Finnish scientists from translating their papers or developing their own lan-guage skills during foreign study tours. His own early papers were written in Swedish and, therefore, unknown in the rest of Europe. From the early 1920s, Palmgren had published in German, and at the time of these contemplations, he was already an in-ternationally recognised botanist.860 The opinion of the president was supported by the circular of the Institut international de coopération intellectuelle, which encouraged the members of the learned societies to write all papers of broad scientific interest in a lingua franca. Despite the costs of language revision, which the authors had to pay themselves,861 the biologists seemed willing to use foreign languages. ABF and AZF included only papers in German or sometimes in English. Only one exception was made for a Swedish author.862
In the early 1920s, there was no oversupply of material, probably due to the found-ing of several new biological serials in Finland.863 Rejections of papers were relatively rare and in these cases, the society often sought the opinion of a third referee.864 In the second half of the 1920s, the volume of submitted papers increased because of the growing number of Finnish biologists whose education in the new university, in Turku, was well under way. The society could not publish all the papers it received.865 Theses were still published in all Acta series, but usually with the condition that the respondent paid 30-50% of the printing costs and 50% of illustrations.866 The theses also had to pass the regular review process.867
859 Annual report of the SFFF 1926. In MEMORANDA 2 (1927), p. 93. The citation in Finnish:
Ei luonnollisestikaan ole kyllin siinä, että julkaisumme joutuvat tiedemiesten pöydälle, niitä tulee myös ymmärtää. Niiden tulee siis, mikäli sisältävät kansainväliselle tieteelle kiintoisia tuloksia, ilmestyä jol-lakin maailmankielellä. Also, in the annual report of 1927, Palmgren stated that the main purpose of the new serials was to widen the contacts with foreign universities, institutions and scientists. In MEMORANDA 3 (1927), pp. 112-113.
860 Leikola 2006. http:��helios.uta.fi:2313�artikkeli�7115� (cited 21January 2011).
861 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 24 January 1929 § 18; 22 October 1929 § 8. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
862 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 29 November 1937 § 7. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2.
Book 3. FNL.
863 Minutes of the SFFF 3 May 1924 § 3. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10. FNL.
864 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 28 November 1924 § 8; 2 December 1926 § 3. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
865 Annual report of the SFFF 1927. In MEMORANDA 3 (1927), p. 106.
866 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 15 February 1922 § 5; 31 October 1924 § 2; 2 December 1926 § 4; 3 February 1927 § 8; 21 October 1927 § 2. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2; 24 January 1929 § 8; 2 May 1934 § 11; 24 March 1936 § 7. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL. Those who defended their theses in the University of Turku had to pay less because their university did not give subsidies for publishing.
867 See e. g. minutes of the board of the SFFF 24 January 1929 § 13. Archive of the SFFF.
SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
The reforms of the Bulletin began in the 1920s. The first step was a new Latin title, Memoranda Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica.868 In the background the language dispute between Finnish and Swedish-speaking people was being politicised radical-ly.869 Important editorial reforms were not made. The papers offered to Memoranda were usually reviewed only by the editor and rejections were rare.870 The guidelines for Memoranda were settled in 1928; it was to be a forum for publishing the minutes and reports of the society. Therefore, the papers could not be offered to the journal without presenting them at meetings, and all those who held presentations were obliged to leave a written paper on the subject to Memoranda. The papers written in domestic languages should have summaries in German, French or English.871 Unfortunately, the new guidelines did not make the publishing of Memoranda much easier. Many papers were offered and often they were large scientific studies which made the pub-lishing process slow, laborious and expensive. The society was worried that it would absorb material which should instead be published in the peer reviewed journals ABF and AZF. As a solution, the board suggested that the papers published in Memoranda should not exceed one printed sheet. The old Acta could be developed as a forum for papers too long for Memoranda but including information of mostly local interest.
Acta would have its own editors and papers would be reviewed by two referees.872 Despite the constant shortage of money, the number of copies in each of the serials increased many times until the end of the 1930s. The reason for this was the effort to widen exchanges. In 1920, the printing of the Bulletin was raised to 750 copies and Acta to 700 copies,873 and in 1924, to 900 and 875 copies respectively.874 The printing of the new serials, ABF and AZF, was 950 copies at the beginning,875 but the latter was soon raised to 1,200 copies.876 Nevertheless, in 1937 the printing of ABF, AZF and Memoranda was reduced by a hundred copies.877 It seems that there was a growing sense of pessimism in the society because it also lightened the peer review process in 1939. In all serials, the editor of the volume could now be the only referee if he was
868 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 7 March 1925 § 1. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
869 Annual report of the SFFF 1927. In MEMORANDA 3 (1927), p. 112; Palmgren 1958, p. 12. On the language dispute, see Hentilä 2009, pp. 146-147.
870 Some rejections were discussed in the board, for instance, the papers of the assiduous author Magnus Brenner. Minutes of the board of the SFFF 3 February 1927 § 13; 18 May 1928 § 6. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
871 Minutes of the SFFF 15 April 1928 § 7. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10; 13 May 1928 Bil. C. Archive of the SFFF. Protokollbilagor. SLSA1162:5 (1927-1932). FNL.
872 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 3 May 1935 § 2. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3.
FNL; annual report of the SFFF 1935. In MEMORANDA 11 (1935-36), pp. 246-260.
873 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 21 May 1920 § 7. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
874 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 4 April 1924 § 5. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
875 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 12 May 1925 § 9. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
876 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 8 April 1926 § 4. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2. FNL.
877 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 29 November 1937 § 15. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2.
Book 3. FNL.
competent in the respective subject. Officially, the motive for this measure was to shorten the time needed to publication,878 but probably, the publishing programme had proved to be too ambitious. Neither did the situation in world politics arouse optimism.
Although the president of the society had ambitious plans for the international distribution of the publications, the SFFF was not very willing to open its journals to foreign scientists. From time to time, the papers were offered by corresponding mem-bers and other foreign researchers, but only some were published.879 A paper written by a Swedish amateur, Th. Lange, was included in ABF in 1938. He had previously donated his herbarium to the Åbo Akademi, which possibly had an effect on the de-cision.880 The paper offered by a corresponding member, Astrid Cleve-Euler, caused confusion because her scientific work had been criticised in other journals, but after long discussion, the board supported its publishing.881 All in all, the foreign papers seemed to have more difficulties in passing the review.882 Some monographs were prepared in collaboration with Nordic scientists. Vainio’s large work, Lichenographia Fennica, was after his death finished by a Norwegian correspondent of the society, B.
Lynge.883 In 1933, Richard Frey relayed a suggestion made in the Nordic congress of entomologists that the SFFF should publish a catalogue of the beetles in the Nordic countries because the printing costs were the lowest in Finland. The society accepted, supposing that subscriptions would cover the majority of the costs.884 As usual, this expectation was too optimistic.885
The publishing activity of the society increased markedly in the interwar period.
Two serials published before the war had generated four others and furthermore, the society prepared handbooks in the series Flora Fennica and Fauna Fennica. Dividing the old Acta into botanical and zoological serials was in direct response to the general demand for more specialised journals. In addition, the SFFF determinately aimed at raising the standard of its publications. The intensifying international competition, constant shortage of money and supply of material from scientists and amateur mem-bers was a challenging combination. The SFFF did its best to satisfy all parties by
878 Annual report of the SFFF 1939. In MEMORANDA 15 (1939-1940), pp. 250-264.
879 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 8 March 1927 § 8 (H. Lohmander from Lund). Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2�20. Book 2; 18 February 1931 § 7 (doctor Ziegenspeck from Königsberg); 22 January 1937 § 13 (Hans Schlesch from Copenhagen); 29 November 1937 § 21 (Astrid Cleve-Euler from Uppsala). Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3; minutes of the SFFF 5 November 1927 § 18 (Kurt Wein from Germany). Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 10; 6 November 1937 § 11 (Professor Otto Steinböck from Innsbruck). Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:1. Book 11. FNL.
880 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 7 May 1937 § 13; 29 November 1937 § 7; 17 November 1938
§ 12. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
881 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 29 November 1937 § 21; 23 March 1938 § 15; 5 May 1938 § 7.
Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
882 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 27 January 1936 § 11; 22 January 1937 § 13. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3.
883 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 5 January 1930 § 11; 16 October 1931 § 9. Archive of the SFFF.
SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
884 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 10 November 1933 § 22; 2 May 1934 § 15. Archive of the SFFF.
SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL; annual report of the SFFF. In MEMORANDA 10 (1933-35), pp. 452-465.
885 Minutes of the board of the SFFF 23 March 1938 § 15. Archive of the SFFF. SLSA1162:2. Book 3. FNL.
developing Memoranda and the old Acta for domestic papers and ABF and AZF for
developing Memoranda and the old Acta for domestic papers and ABF and AZF for