BOTANY 151 



ful, must include the effects of cultivation and animal husbandry, 

 which are among the most important factors in Africa. Their study 

 in relation to the native flora will provide a valuable connecting 

 link between botany and agriculture. The Imperial Botanical Con- 

 ference in 1924 set up the British Empire Vegetation Committee to 

 further the study of ecology, and the book edited by Tansley and 

 Chipp (1926) on the aims and methods in the study of vegetation, 

 published by the committee and circulated widely in the Empire, 

 has stimulated interest in the subject, and has been of great value 

 to local workers. The British Ecological Society, founded in 191 3, 

 publishes the Journal of Ecology, many contributions to which are 

 mentioned in the bibliography. 



The development of ecological survey work would have impor- 

 tant practical results through the light thrown on the effects of 

 agricultural developments, afforestation and deforestation, ero- 

 sion, etc. The ecological survey of Northern Rhodesia, carried out 

 by one botanist and one agricultural officer, has already shown 

 important results in a few years. From time to time suggestions 

 have been put forward for the inauguration of wide-scale ecological 

 surveys by co-operation between adjacent territories. For instance, 

 J. F. V. Phillips (1931a) outlined an ambitious scheme for South, 

 Central, and East Africa. The organization of work on a large 

 scale at present would be premature, for the methods of ecological 

 survey to produce the most useful results have yet to be worked 

 out for African conditions. The ecological survey of Northern 

 Rhodesia and that started by the department of tsetse research in 

 Tanganyika provide admirable bases for future development. 



FRENCH 



The headquarters of systematic botany in France are at the 

 Musee National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, under Professor Hum- 

 bert. He and members of his staff have travelled and collected 

 widely in Africa and Madagascar. His colleague, Dr. A. Cheva- 

 lier, Director of the section devoted to Agronomie Tropicale and 

 Productions Coloniales d'Origine Vegetale, is in the closest touch with 

 the problems of the African colonies, and has published very 

 extensive material dealing with them. 



In French Africa there are practically no botanists except plant 



