3o6 



NATURE 



[May 4 



It is difficult to ImaRinp any kinjl'thlp at any period 

 or in any country bcin^ orifjinally instituted for any 

 other reason than the practical need of a leader. 

 Facts, however, show that other reasons, of super- 

 stition, have actually operated. 



"Writers," says the author, "on the origin of poli- 

 tical institutions . . . have not laid their account 

 sufficiently with the enormous influenre which super- 

 stition has exerted in shaping the human past." 



Of course, the solution of the difficulty is that, 

 when superstition creates a monarchy, it does create 

 a leader, whose power is no less real because it is 

 merely majjical. Once more, we may note that such 

 questions invite the attention of the psychologist, in 

 this case the student of the mind of society rather 

 than of the individual. 



This new edition is, as we have liiiitcd, something 

 more than a mere enlargement. It is a new book, 

 or a series of books ; yet it is the same " Golden 

 Bouph." The reader will find it full of good things, 

 new and old. He will also realise that "The Golden 

 Bough " is a R'reat book, one of the Rreat books of 

 our time. As such, it has a character and an aim. 

 It is extraordinarily simple, hence its powerful appeal. 

 Every fact is presented, as it might be by a demon- 

 strator, completely, minutely, and luminously; but 

 each fact is a human document. The aim of the 

 book has, perhaps, grown with its growth; the 

 author's words, cited above, may describe it : — To show 

 " the enormous influence which superstition has 

 exerted in shaping the human past." There is, in- 

 deed, no better introduction to the social and poli- 

 tical history of the world than "The Golden Bough "; 

 it is a book every statesman should be acquainted 

 with, for it enables us to understand something of 

 the workings of the mind of man in the mass, not 

 only when it leads us from early savagerv to the 

 great world-religions which still exercise a profound 

 influence on man's fate, but also when it deals with 

 politics. Men in the mass are nothing if not super- 

 stitious, whether the superstition be a religious dogma 

 or a political principle. It is not too much to say 

 that this book, now in its majority — the first edition 

 was published in 1890— has already helped the world 

 towards a scientific view of nature and of man, the 

 lack of which has made history a panorama of 

 atrocity and error. A. E. Crawley. 



AN INDIAN FOREST FLORA. 

 A Forest Flora of Chota Nagpur, including Gangpur 

 and the Santal-Parganahs : a Description of all the 

 Indigenous Trees, Shrubs, and Climbers, the Prin- 

 cipal Economic Herbs, and the most commonlv cul- 

 tivated Trees and Shrubs. By H. H. Haines. 

 Pp. vii + 634 + xxxvii. (Calcutta: Superintendent 

 of Government Printing, India, 1910.) 

 'T'HE author of this work, who has served largely 

 and travelled extensively in the region with which 

 it deals, and has studied its vegetation long and 

 carefully, ought to be well qualified to give a satis- 

 factory account of its flora. That area constitutes 

 the north-eastern portion of the highland region of 

 Central India, which forms part of the province of 

 NO. 2166, VOL. 86] 



Bengal. It includes the administrative <i. >.-..,!, of 

 Chota Nagpur with the tributary- State of Gangpur 

 in its south-western border, and one other district — 

 the Santal-Parganahs to the north-cast — which be- 

 longs to the Bhagalpur division. This district, 

 though an outlying one from the point of view of 

 the administrator, is topographically and botanically 

 an integral part of the upland tracts to the west of 

 the Lower and to the south of the Upper Gangeti*. 

 Plain. Its annexation is therefore fully justified oh 

 scientific grounds', and, as the work is prepared 

 primarily with reference to forest requirements, has 

 the practical advantage of enabling the author to 

 deal with all the western forest subdivisions of 

 Bengal. 



In his treatment of the task before him the author 

 does not disappoint us. The concise and well- 

 arranged introductor)' remarks show that he is inti- 

 mately acquainted with his country, and fully appre- 

 ciates the factors which have determined the character 

 of its vegetation. One onlv regrets that depart- 

 mental exigencies have debarred him from dealing 

 with those elements which fall outside the category 

 of "economic" plants, and from giving us the com- 

 plete review of the flora which he is so clearly com- 

 petent to provide. 



The technical portion of the work affords con- 

 stantly recurring evidence of careful and independent 

 study, and demonstrates that it is in no sense a 

 compilation. Where his field observation of critical 

 species has led him to adopt individual views, these 

 are stated with judgment and caution. There are 

 doubtless cases in which those with material from 

 more extended areas before them may not be able to 

 accept the author's conclusions; even so, the close 

 study on which these conclusions have been based 

 will still be fully appreciated. We may doubt, more 

 particularly, whether the author has done well in 

 departing from the sequence of the natural families 

 observed in most standard Indian floras. No serial 

 presentation of natural units can be wholly satisfac- 

 tory, and the question is not as to whether the 

 sequence adopted by the author be an improvement 

 on the sequence it replaces, but whether the adoption 

 of an improved sequence, in a work of " local " 

 scope, can compensate for the inconvenience which 

 results when that work has to be consulted simul- 

 taneously w ith another treatise of a more " general " 

 nature. 



The characters given for the species, if few and 

 briefly stated, are well selected and clearly expressed. 

 The economic notes and the local names, which are 

 added when possible, increase the practical value of 

 the work; this is further enhanced by the addition 

 of an excellent map. This map, prepared by the 

 Forest Survey, and published by the Survey of India, 

 is worthy of these two State departments, but the 

 appearance of the book itself is unattractive 

 and disappointing. In spite of this drawback, 

 however, our author's flora cannot fail to prove a 

 useful companion to those resident in the area with 

 which it deals, who may be interested in •'- vcreta- 

 lion. 



