February 23, 1911] 



NATURE 



545 



babe's life — to re-open on the final scene, when the | 

 nestlings are read}- to escape, and really do so on 

 the approach of the observer. 



The ston.^ of the purple heron contains many in- [ 

 teresting observations on the habits of the half- 



fiedglings, which we believe to be, if not new, at least ; 



not widely known. It seems that during the intervals | 



between their meals they descend from the nest and ' 



disport themselves on the ground, to re-occupy it when ! 



the mother is heard approaching. Usually when a i 



Fig. 2. — A Bittern-like attitude, with the bill held vertically. From " The Home-life of the 

 Spoonbill," by Bentley Beetbam. 



nestling leaves its nest it is difficult if not impossible 

 to induce it to remain in it, even if replaced. Although 

 the promise of its title-page is hardly fulfilled, the 

 book is interestingly written, and will be read through 

 when once taken up. As a photographer, Mr. 

 Beetham has been most successful, and his pictures 

 (two of which, by the courtesy of the publishers, we 

 reproduce here") have a high value independently of 

 their use as illustrations to his present book, which 

 seems to be produced at an astonishingly low price. 



NO. 2156, VOL. 85] 



THE COSSEKVATIOS OF SATl'RAL 

 RESOURCES.' 



TTHE two m.en who have played the largest part 

 * in the conservation movement that has now 

 assumed such great impKjrtance in the United States 

 are probably Gifford Pinchot and President Roose- 

 velt. Mnchot was primarily responsible for the 

 forests, but he saw that the conservation of forests 

 could not be dealt with satisfactorily by itself, but 

 was intimately bound up with the 

 conservation of water, of the soil, 

 and of mineral resources. It was 

 this flash of genius that founded a 

 new branch of economics, and the 

 strong personality of the President 

 brought the subject at once into the 

 region of practical politics. 



In the volume by Mr. Van Hise, 

 which contains the substance of lec- 

 tures given at the Universit}- of 

 Wisconsin, he traces the histor\- of 

 the famous conference held in the 

 East Room of the White House on 

 May 1^, 1908. For the first time 

 in the histor}- of the country the 

 governors of the various States were 

 called together to consider a national 

 question. The President's letter of 

 invitation, and the declaration 

 passed, are both recorded in the 

 second book on our list, and are 

 both weight}- documents, worthy of 

 a great occasion. The first outcome 

 has been to take an inventor}- of 

 the natural resources. The second, 

 and much more difficult, has been 

 to start a great educational cam- 

 paign to bring home to the indivi- 

 dual citizen his responsibility in the 

 matter, and to point the way of 

 reform. 



The report of the Conservation 

 Commission of Maryland deals with 

 the mineral resources, soils, forests, 

 waters, fisheries and oysters, game, 

 scenery, public health, and roads, 

 thus giving a more complete picture 

 of the State than has hitherto been 

 available in any one volume. The 

 account of the mineral resources re- 

 sembles in a general way our own 

 geological survey memoirs, and the 

 treatment of the other subjects is 

 not dissimilar. Mr. Van Rise's 

 book may be regarded as repre- 

 sentative of the educational outcome 

 of the movement. He discusses the 

 minerals, forests, soils, and waters, 

 and finally proceeds with a series 

 of recommendations calculated to 

 can-}- out the objects of the con- 

 servation movement. 



Dealing first with the mineral 

 resources, it is pointed out that 

 they are far greater than those of any other 

 nation, and they bring in' some $2,000,000,000 

 per annum, an amount only exceeded by the 

 returjis from agriculture. Coal is by much the 

 most important, but it is being mined at an 

 astonishing rate; in 1S46 only five million tons were 



1 '• The Conseri-ation of Natural Resources in the United States." By 

 Charles R. Van Hise. Pp. xv— 413. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; 

 London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1910.) Price 8j. 6</. net. 



'• Report of the Conservation Commission of Marjland for 190S-9." 

 Pp. 204. (Maryland, Baltimore, 1909.^ 



