l86 TRANSACTIONS OF ROVAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



difficulty in distinguishing between the damage caused by smoke 

 and that due to disease. They point out, however, that many 

 diseased conditions, popularly supposed to be due to smoke 

 damage, are in reality caused by fungous or bacterial diseases. 

 As in the case of the grain crops, some excellent coloured plates 

 are given showing the typical appearance of leaves damaged 

 by smoke. 



As the result of the improvements carried out by the Smelting 

 Company at their works, the Commission was able to report 

 that the works were now operated so as to no longer cause 

 injury to the vegetation of the district, or to interfere with the 

 health and comfort of the inhabitants. 



The total cost of the investigation was about 27,000 dollars, 

 or approximately ;^54oo. The report extends to 528 pages, 

 and contains an excellent bibliography, compiled by the 

 Chemists' Club Library, of previous work on the effect of sulphur 

 dioxide on vegetable and animal life. 



As already mentioned in the introduction to this paper, the 

 appointment of the Selby Smelter Commission is a valuable 

 object-lesson to us in this country as to how disputes of this 

 kind should be decided. 



Our methods of settling similar disputes are most unsatis- 

 factory, and there is probably no branch of legal procedure in 

 which the necessity for reform is more urgent. In all such 

 cases the Court should have the assistance and advice of one 

 or more Assessors, who should be men of high standing in 

 the department of science involved, and who should have no 

 partisan interest in the case. At present the verdict depends 

 too much on the skill of the expert witnesses undergoing cross- 

 examination, and on the ability of counsel employed, and too 

 little on the real merits of the case. 



It is to be hoped that in the schemes of reconstruction after 

 the war, about which so much is heard at present, the necessity 

 for the reform of our present legal procedure in scientific cases 

 will not be overlooked. 



