318 



NOTICES (U- HOOKS. 



the book (pp. 132, 133) we find the following renderings of one 

 word: — Pelagica, plelaiea, and Petagicia. As a specimen of Latin 

 translation we may give the rendering of this sentence from the 

 ' Hortus Cliffortianus ' : — " Nomen obtinuit ab illustriss. Hans 

 Sloane, Prasside Societatis Regiae Anglicanae, cui fere soli debetur 

 notitia plantarum jamaicensium et plurium americanarum." Mr. 

 Alberg introduces his rendering thus : — " But when Linnaeus in 

 Hurt. Cliff, records the species Sloane, he remarks, ' This name 

 holds its place amongst the illustrious. To Hans Sloane, President 

 of the Royal British Society, is owing nearly all our knowledge of 

 Japanese also of many American plants.' " We will add a single 

 sentence from the account of the journey to Lapland in Prof. 

 Alberg's "own quaint, peculiar style," which we leave as a puzzle 

 with our readers. Linnaeus says : — " I have seen solemn inoccidum 

 in the coldest winter." W. Carruthers. 



Timbers, and how to know them. By Dr. Robert Hartig. Trans- 

 lated from the third German edition, by William Somerville, 

 D.CE., B.Sc, F.R.S.E. Edinburgh : David Douglas. 1890. 

 8vo. 22 Cuts. 

 As stated in the first line of the preface of this little book, 

 " The want has often been felt in this country of a work, in handy 

 form and at a low price, which would enable one with ease and 

 certainty to identify timbers, and at the same time give a concise 

 account of their composition, qualities, and structure." With this 

 we heartily agree, and welcome Dr. Hartig's efforts as a small 

 contribution to this end. Whether it will go far in helping seekers of 

 knowledge in this direction is doubtful, as each wood referred to is 

 dismissed with remarkable brevity, only a few lines, indeed, being 

 given in most cases ; more details, both as to microscopical structure 

 and to the general appearance of the woods as to colour, shade, and 

 markings, both in longitudinal and cross sections, are needed to 

 make such a book really useful, and, if carefully carried out, would 

 be invaluable to a forester. Such descriptions of the woods, indeed, 

 might well be added to those of the plants in any Forest Flora. 

 Thus, for instance, in Gamble's ' Manual of Indian Timbers,' and 

 Brandis's ' Forest Flora of North-west and Central India,' we have 

 the material for a fairly complete book on Indian timber trees. 

 American woods have been treated in a similar way by Prof. Sargent, 

 but the scattered material of such books requires bringing together 

 and enlarging to make it more generally useful. The study of woods, 

 their structure and capabilities, are occupying much more attention 

 now than they hitherto have done, owing to the extension of Forest 

 Schools, and the subject being taken up as a special study; there- 

 fore, a really good book, on the lines of the one under consideration, 

 would be most valuable. 



The title of Dr. Hartig's little volume is somewhat pretentious, 

 if : not misleading, for a large portion of the plants mentioned are 

 not timber trees at all, as, for instance, the vine, barberry, buck- 

 thorn, &c. ; and it requires a great stretch of the imagination to 



