REVIEWS ANli NOTICES OF HOOKS. 117 



REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



Forests, Woods, and Trees in relation to Hygiene. 1 1 y Prof. 

 Augustine Henry. Pp. xii + 314 and 49 Illustrations and 

 Maps. London: Constable & Co., Ltd. Price 18s. net. 



Professor Henry states that the subject matter of this book 

 was briefly dealt with in three Chadwick public lectures. His 

 aim is "to interest the statesman, the student of economics, 

 the engineer, the physician, and the layman, as well as the 

 forester, in certain aspects of forests and trees, about which 

 vague notions are prevalent." 



The book is written in a somewhat popular manner, and 

 contains a large amount of extremely useful information on the 

 subjects dealt with. Prof. Henry seems to have taken consider- 

 able trouble in collecting from various sources what information 

 is available on the hygienic effects of forests. 



The main subjects dealt with include the sanitary influence 

 of forests ; forests as sites for sanatoria j trees in towns ; 

 afforestation of pit mounds ; and over 200 pages on water 

 catchment areas. Details are given of all the main catchment 

 areas in Great Britain and Ireland. In dealing with these 

 subjects, Prof. Henry gives full weight to the opinions against 

 as well as those in favour of afforestation. Since the whole 

 question is one which is not perfectly understood as yet, the 

 value of the pros and cons is increased. 



There is a certain amount of perhaps unnecessary repetition. 

 Then in his own statements the author does not seem to accept 

 the facts of experience. We find him, for instance, in the 

 preface and on page 81, advocating the use of disbanded 

 soldiers for planting, in spite of a later statement that Leeds 

 Corporation found the cost of forming plantations was raised 

 by about 50 per cent, and the failures were quite 30 per cent, 

 when planters were drawn from the unemployed. On page 81 

 he states that disbanded soldiers accustomed to rural labour 

 might be employed, but we do not think all soldiers who were 

 rural workers are suitable for, or willing to become, tree planters. 

 As Prof. Henry states himself, "planting trees is skilled work, 

 and requires preliminary training." 



We can agree that Thuja gigantea "is for so far a very 

 healthy tree," but not that it is free from fungus attacks. We 



