October, 1922.- 



Thb Canadian Field-Naturalist 



139 



those who are particularly concerned in the welfare 

 and health of stock. The fourth section includes 

 plants which rarely cause injury or death to 

 animals but which are poisonous to human beings; 

 it is consequently of particular interest to the 

 public in general. 



The following number of poisonous plants are 

 dealt with: 



Section I. ^Six genera with about -a dozen 

 species. 



Section II. Twenty genera with about two 

 dozen species. 



Section III. Nine genera with as many species. 

 " IV. Thirty-one genera with about fifty 

 species. 



Section III, which deals with poisonous plants 

 encountered in ground feeds, deserves particular 

 attention. It is, as the authors assert, "the first 

 time that the importance of poisonous plant consti- 

 tuents in concentrated feedstuffs has been given 

 recognition in a text book." The importance of 

 including this section is apparent when it is 

 realized that large quantities of elevator screenings 

 containing a considerable proportion of more or less 

 poisonous weed seeds are annually used in the 

 manufacture of concentrated feed. Indeed, the 

 losses suffered from the presence of poisonous con- 

 stituents in such feed have recently been so great 

 that the Dominion Department of Agriculture has 

 found it necessary to design a special feedstuffs act 

 and to provide for laboratory facilities where con- 

 centrated feeds can be microscopically analyzed and 

 the presence of poisonous plant constituents in 

 dangerous quantities ascertained. 



In addition to the four main sections briefly 

 referred to, a "Symptoms Key" to the principal 

 poisonous plants is given by which it may be 

 possible to determine, in the case of poisoning, 

 which plant should likely be held responsible. The 

 identification of poisonous plants found in hay or in 

 the field is also greatly facilitated by the 40 excel- 

 lent illustrations which the book contains. 



As already stated, the Guide to the Poisonous 

 Plants and Weed Seeds of Canada and the Northern 

 United States was written primarily as a text-book 

 for veterinary students. Its usefulness, however, 

 extends far beyond its primary scope. It is written 

 in such a pleasant style, and it is so free from all but 

 unavoidably necessary technical terminology, that 

 it should make entertaining and profitable reading 

 not only to followers of the veterinary and medical 

 professions and to students of natural history, but 

 also to farmers, stockmen, and the public in general. 

 Public and other libraries would be well advised to 

 secure the book. M. O. M. 



The Conservation of the Wild Life of Cana- 

 da, by C. Gordon Hewitt, D.Sc, late Dom- 

 inion Entomologist and Consulting Zoologist. 

 With numerous illustrations. New York 

 Charles Scribner's Sons, 1921. 344 pages, 23 

 plates, 4 text figures, 10 maps, and five charts. 



While this book is rapidly being recognized as a 



. standard authority on the broad subject which it 



. treats, it is of particular interest to the members 



r. of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club, of which 



organization the late Dr. Hewitt was an active 

 member for several years and president for two 

 years. It contains information with which every 

 true field-naturalist should be familiar and no 

 naturalist's library in Canada will be complete 

 without it. 



The importance of the subject may be realized 

 by stopping to consider that Canada is the home and 

 refuge of the most important and desirable wild ani- 

 mals of this continent. The large wild animals that 

 were once found everywhere in the United States have 

 melted away until only remnants are left in a few 

 inaccessible or protected refuges. The northern part 

 of the continent was less inviting to the settler and 

 the forests, mountains and barren grounds of Canada 

 have proved a sanctuary to by far the greater part of 

 the surviving wild life of North America. The people 

 of the United States now realize and deplore their 

 shortsightedness in unnecessarily destroying their 

 heritage and are endeavouring to rescue the fragments 

 from complete and utter annihilation. The aim of 

 Canada in this regard has been to profit by the mis- 

 takes of older countries and prove that the advance 

 of civilization to the more remote sections of Canada 

 shall be more than merely temporary, exploitation 

 implying the total destruction of heritage due to 

 prosperity. 



As treated in Dr. Hewitt's masterly book the wild- 

 life problem is restricted particularly to the larger 

 wild mammals, many of which are commonly in- 

 cluded under the head of big game, and to the birds 

 of Canada. The fur-bearing mammals, having 

 been recently discussed elsewhere, are not consid- 

 ered at length, except as far as their conservation in 

 the wild state necessarily constitutes an important 

 aspect of the general problem of wild life conserva- 

 tion. Canada is fortunate in having certain species 

 of valuable animals not found elsewhere except in 

 parts of the United States. Among these we find 

 the moose, wapiti or elk, caribou, buffalo, mountain 

 sheep, goats, muskoxen, and antelope, and all of 

 these have been discussed extensively, rationally and 

 sympathetically in Dr. Hewitt's book. It is valu- 

 able alike to the technical naturalist and to the 

 general reader. 



The value of wild life to the nation is first shown 

 to have an economic significance, not because 

 Canadians lack appreciation of their moral obliga- 

 tions or reasons of sentiment, but because the 

 rapid opening up and development of the country 

 came into direct conflict with the ability of many 

 important forms of our wild life to survive. Lands 

 not suitable for agriculture, as found in many 

 forest reserves or areas of generally unfertile soils, 

 are in many cases capable of a larger utilization by 

 intelligent use of the wild life resources. The 

 common native deer is shown to be an animal 

 which increases and thrives from east to west 

 with anything like reasonable protection and has 

 been proved by practical demonstration in many 

 states to produce a large meat-supply on non- 

 agricultural areas. 



The vast area of the Northwest Territories, by 

 far the greater part of which is unsuited to agri- 

 culture, may be made to continue productive by 

 properly conserving the game supply as a necessary 

 adjunct to the preservation of the fur industry and 

 the establishment of mining enterprises and other 

 industries. The necessity of conserving a native 

 food supply for Indians and Eskimos in northern 

 districts is an important obligation which rests 

 upon the nation since the common-sense conserva- 

 tion policies followed under the guiding influence 

 of the old-time trading companies have been 

 largely weakened by the enormous increase of 

 cutthroat competition and by the virtual bounties 





