BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 311 



deer, 1800-1850 ; 5. Injury done to germinating acorns and beech- 

 mast by rabbits (1870-1914, and even earlier). The young birch 

 appears to be distasteful, even to rabbits ; it was thus able to increase 

 while the oak and beech were checked." Mr. Paulson points out 

 that in spite of the cessation of indiscriminate feUing and of the 

 great reduction of rabbits, the primary factor — leaching of the soil — • 

 " must inevitably continue while the present cHmatic conditions con- 

 tinue " ; and adds that although "it is generally conceded that 

 birches have added greatly to the sylvan beauty of the Forest, should 

 the great increase in the number of these trees go on unchecked, the 

 pleasure derived from variety may in time be lost." The paper is 

 illustrated by three excellent plates, showing seedlings in various 

 stages and some of the more remarkable trees. 



We have received the first volume of a new edition (the fourth) 

 of Sir Wm. Schlich's Manual of Foresiry (Bradbury, Agnew: 

 price, 15s. net), which may still be regarded as the standard work on 

 silviculture in this country. As in the last edition published sixteen 

 years ago the bulk of the volume is taken up with an account of the 

 forestry resources of the British Empire, including India. In the 

 earlier edition this account was avowedly incomplete, but the author 

 has since had the advantage of being able to consult the statements 

 received by the Imperial Forest Conference in 1920 and to obtain 

 much new information. The result is a well-summarized and up-to- 

 date account of the present position of silviculture in this country 

 and elsewhere in the British Empire. In the opening chapters 

 Prof. Schlich emphasizes the importance of an adequate state-aided 

 forest policy in order to meet the ever-increasing demands upon our 

 timber resources. The serious inroads made on our British woods 

 during the War renders an extended scheme of afforestation more 

 than ever imperative. The book will be welcomed by all who are 

 interested in the progress of afforestation, and, in view of the increasing 

 importance of the subject, it is to be hoped the succeeding volumes 

 will not be long delayed. — A. B. J. 



The Annals of Botany for July (no. cxliii.) contains a continua- 

 tion of " Studies in the Physiology of Parasitism," by W. Brown ; 

 " A Note on Conjugation in Zygnemay' by Edith P. Smith (1 pi.) ; 

 " Further Studies of the 'Brown Hot' Fungi" (2 pL), by H. Wormald ; 

 " The Distribution of Plants in Perthshire in relation to ' Age and 

 Area,' " by J. R. Matthews ; " On the Nature of the ' Blade ' in 

 certain Monocotyledonous Leaves," by Agnes Arber ; " Development 

 of Root System of Wheat," by R. Singh ; " Observations on the 

 Transpiration, Stomata, Leaf Water-content and Wilting of Plants," 

 by R. C. Knight ; " Sequoia Couttsicd at Hordle, Hants," by M. E, 

 J. Chandler ; " The Soils of Blakeney Point," by E. Salisbury. 



Under the title " A Potential Weed " Mr. E. P. Phillips, of the 

 Department of Agriculture, Pretoria, describes and figures in the 

 Journal of the Department for August Araujia sericifera Brot., a 

 Brazilian Asclepiad. It was first noticed in 1903 by Mr. Burtt Davy 

 as becoming a great nuisance in some Johannesburg gardens, but has 

 now " spread over most of the L^nion and has also been recorded from 



