REVIEWS 63 



ject is a curious mixture of citations from modern and ancient au- 

 thorities. The illustrations of fruiting bodies of fungi, on pages 23 

 and 24, copied from Plate II of Bulletin No. 41 of the old U. S. Bureau 

 of Forestry, are credited to R. Wade & Sons, Ltd., of London. 



Unlike other untechnical writers of technical literature bearing on 

 the utilization of wood, Wallis-Tayler has had the courage to condense 

 the inevitable list of important woods, which are presented only in a 

 tabulated form, thereby saving considerable room on many library 

 shelves. The chapter on kiln-drying shows an almost startling lack of 

 information on the development of this work in America. His refer- 

 ence to Tiemann's "Strength and Stiffness of Wood as Influenced by 

 Moisture" is confined to a citation from a review which appeared in 

 the Engineering and Mining Journal of November 10, 1906. 



The theory of the penetrance of preservatives is rather cleverly 

 handled by long extracts from articles by Bailey and Tiemann, thus 

 giving a good summary of the work that has been done on this subject 

 without introducing errors due to the very evident lack of familiarity 

 on the part of the author with the structure of wood, as will be noted 

 in the following quotation, taken at random : "The vessels or tracheids 

 form the lungs of the plant, and in these vessels is the sap, the circu- 

 lation of which through the tree is the source of its existence." 

 Whether the illustration of a magnified section of beech wood on page 

 112, which is of German origin, is a subtle attack upon the over-ad\'er- 

 tised technical prowess of the Germans, is a matter that may give rise 

 to some interesting speculation. If it was chosen for that purpose, it 

 shows that the author possesses a rare sense of humor. 



The chapters on the apparatus used in wood preservation are reason- 

 ably good compilations from booklets of various machinery manufac- 

 turers and the proceedings of the American Wood Preservers' Asso- 

 ciation. The chapters on preservative processes show an evident lack 

 of familiarity with every-day problems that are encountered in the 

 operation of wood preserving plants. Proprietary wood preservatives 

 are given full attention, but their limitations are not discussed. The 

 book closes with chapters on the fireproofing of wood, the cost of 

 preservative treatment, and tables, formulae, etc. B. L. G. 



Annual Reports of the Massachusetts State Forester for 191 f,, 19 16, 

 and 19 17. Boston, Mass. Pp. 130, 124, and 99. 



By some unaccounted delay the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth 

 reports of the Massachusetts State Forester have reached us at the 



