BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 



Woody Plants op Switzerland. — This is the third of a series of 

 studies of the woody flora of Switzerland, each being confined to a 

 single small region.' The present refers to the upper Rhine valley, 

 extending from the Upper Alps to Ilanz-Schleuis (Canton Grisons). 

 It is divided into five parts and includes appendix containing a brief 

 bibliography relating to the subject, four phototype plates and two 

 topographic maps on a scale of one mile to the inch. The maps are 

 models for detail, and besides topography indicate in colors and char- 

 acters all the forest formations even to important single groups of trees. 

 Part I discusses the geography, orography, geology and climate of the 

 region; part II gives a catalogue of the woody plants, so amplified as to 

 contain a description of their botanical and silvical characteristics. A 

 significant feature of the catalogue is the fact that the author adheres 

 strictly to the Linnean nomenclature, in striking contrast to the practice 

 of American botanists to adopt new names. Part III describes the 

 various plant formations, arboreal and herbaceous and their successions 

 and aspects. The herbaceous vegetation characteristic of each tree 

 formation forms an important part of the description. The author 

 compares present forest conditions under each formation with those 

 existing in the primeval forest, using as proof of his idea of original 

 conditions the many sub-fossil forms of wood and fruit he found and 

 the history of the region. Part IV is devoted to the agriculture of the 

 region and the part it played in changing the physiognomy of the 

 forest. In this part he also ties in the success or failure of certain crops 

 with the site factors that control the character of the forest. In part V 

 the results of the study are reviewed. 



The work has a scientific interest in that the author does not confine 

 hhnself to a mere dry statistical presentation of his subject, but ex- 

 plains the ecology of the region and analyzes the factors, both physical 

 and biological, responsible for the present forest and woodland con- 

 ditions. His studies reveal a profound genetic connection and a close 



1 Hager, P. K. Erhebungen liber die Verbreitung der wildwachsenden Holz- 

 arten in der Schweiz. Lieferung 3. Gebiet des Vorderrheintales (Kanton 

 Graubiinden). Pp. 331, pis. 4, maps 2. Schweiz. Depmt. des Innern, Bern., 1916. 



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