Current Literature. 59 



scription, with special reference to the geological history and the 

 position of each topographic form in the erosion cycle. Each 

 chapter is accompanied by charts, maps and half-tones to repre- 

 sent relief, drainage, geological structures, and so forth. In 

 fact, every third page, on the average, has an illustration of some 

 kind. 



It is seldom that a book on an auxiliary science appears which 

 will be more useful to a forester in the United States than this 

 one. It is also seldom that facts are presented more clearly and 

 concisely than in this book. 



C. D. H. 



Types of British Vegetation. By Members of the Central Com- 

 mittee for the survey and study of British vegetation. Edited 

 by A. G. Tansley. University Press, Cambridge, England ; G. P. 

 Putnams' Sons, Xew York. 191 1. Pp. 366, plates 16, figures 

 21. Price 6/. 



We find from the book with the above title that in England 

 5.3%, Wales 3.9%, Scotland 4.6%, and in Ireland 1.5% of the 

 total area is covered with woodlands and forest plantations. 

 The percentages of the area under natural or semi-natural plant 

 communities, including pastures not manured, is, however, much 

 larger, as the following figures show: England 15-20%, Wales 

 40%, Scotland 70-75%, Ireland 70-80%. 



The authors believe that the most widespread and rapid de- 

 struction of the forests of the British Isles was incidental to 

 military operations beginning with the Roman invasion and con- 

 tinuing through the Middle Ages. The mild winters which 

 permit grazing throughout the year also contribute to the general 

 failure of forest reproduction. The cool and wet climate in the 

 western and northern portions leads to the formation of bogs on 

 areas originally occupied by forest. On the steeper and drier 

 slopes, grassland developes on the better, and heath on the poorer 

 soils. In the drier and warmer east and southeast portions, the 

 better soils were used for tillage and pasturage, while the poorer 

 soils from which the trees were removed, became heaths which in 

 time were partially or completely re-invaded by the forest. 



The best forested portion of England is in the southeast comer 



