THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



223 



a means of preserving the head-waters 

 of important rivers." 



Two lines of work by the Federal 

 Government along the line of forest 

 preservation are especially worth com- 

 ment. One is the attempt to get an ex- 

 act estimate of just what forests the 

 country possesses and just what condi- 

 tions they are in. This knowledge is 

 required as a basis for all theoretical de- 

 ductions, and as a starting point for 

 all practical measures. This work is 

 now being extensively carried out by 

 the United States Geological Survey. 

 The other is the attempt definitely to 

 assist land-owners to develop wisely 

 their forest lands and thus to spread 

 over the country practical acquaintance 

 with the principles of forest manage- 

 ment. This work is in the hands of the 

 Division of Forestry of the Department 

 of Agriculture. In the nineteenth and 

 twentieth reports of the Geological Sur- 

 vey, Mr. Gannett gives the following 

 statistics concerning the area of wood- 

 land in the United States. Of the whole 

 country 37 per cent, is wooded; along 

 the Atlantic border the percentage va- 

 ries from 40 to 80 per cent.; in Ohio, it 

 is 23 per cent.; in Illinois, 18 per cent.; 

 in Kansas, 7 per cent. ; in North Dakota, 

 1 per cent.; in California, 22 per cent., 

 and in Washington, 71 per cent. The 

 areas reserved and their percentage of 

 the total area of the State and of the 

 wooded area of the State are as follows : 



Area in Per Cent. 



Beserva- Per Cent. of 



tion. of Total Wooded 

 State. Sq. Miles. Area. Area. 



Arizona 6,285 6 27 



California . . . 13,509 9 30 



Colorado 4,848 5 15 



Idaho 6,264 7 18 



Montana 7,885 5 19 



New Mexico. 4,273 3 18 



Oregon 7,271 8 13 



South Dakota 1,893 2 76 



Utah 1,474 2 15 



Washington .12,672 19 27 



Wyoming . . . 4,994 5 40 



One of the most interesting questions 

 concerning human nature is the degree 

 to which special aptitudes may appear 



as the result of innate organic condi- 

 tions quite apart from experience. It is 

 well enough known that general men- 

 tal ability is born in us if we have it 

 at all, but we do not know so well how 

 far any special ability, for instance in 

 mathematics, music or sculpture, is due 

 to inborn structural or functional pecul- 

 iarities. The 'prodigies' in special fields 

 may be instanced as evidence that such 

 highly specialized gifts are inborn, but 

 in some cases interest in the facts con- 

 cerned and the habit of thinking about 

 them seem to be sufficient to account 

 for the prodigy's success. The latest 

 mathematical prodigy, a boy who 

 has been carefully studied by Professor 

 Bryan and Dr. Lindley of Indiana Uni- 

 versity, seemed to owe his success to 

 the habit of constantly thinking about 

 numbers. Any intelligent person who 

 would be as much engaged in the pur- 

 suit might do as well. It is hard, how- 

 ever, to explain in this way the cass 

 of the musical prodigy exhibited before 

 the International Congress of Psycholo- 

 gists by M. Charles Jtichet. The boy, 

 then three years, seven months and 

 seven days old, played the piano with 

 at times remarkable skill in both tech- 

 nique and expression, but especially in 

 the latter. He knows a score of pieces 

 by heart, all of which he has learned 

 by ear. If twenty or thirty measures 

 are played before him he can then play 

 them. He also, though with more dif- 

 ficulty, plays on the piano tunes he has 

 heard sung. Of his inventiveness Pro- 

 fessor Richet said: "It is certain that 

 when Pepito starts to improvise, he is al- 

 most never at a loss, and he often finds 

 extremely interesting melodies which 

 appear more or less new to all those 

 present. There is a variety and rich- 

 ness of tone which would perhaps be as- 

 tonishing if he were a professional mu- 

 sician, but which in a child three years 

 and a half old are absolutely overwhelm- 

 ing." In all else than music he seems 

 to be an ordinary child. Pepito, accord- 

 ing to his mother's narrative, was a 

 good player from the start. His first 

 performance was to play throughout a 



