5^2 



NATURE 



[Sept. 26, 1878 



not yet sufficiently known to be dealt with in any other 

 fashion than that of the threefold classification of 

 Ramsay, Jamieson, and Lyell. The refinements on this 

 classification attempted by several authors are based 

 upon phenomena which have not yet been proved to be 

 other than local. 



One of the more interesting sections of this memoir 

 relates to the growth and accumulation of peat ; the 

 author's conclusion that the rate at which peat grows is 

 very uncertain and dependant on local conditions, is 

 confirmed by the recent researches of Dr. Angus Smith, 

 and his observations regarding the manner in which forests 

 have been destroyed by its growth are probably true. 

 The presence, however, of large oaks at great elevations 

 in Britain need not necessarily "point to warmer sum- 

 mers than at present," but may be accounted for by the 

 fact of their having grown in a primeval forest, one 

 under the shelter of another, thus attaining a height and 

 reaching a size which they could not do on our bare 

 hills exposed to the high winds. An example of this may 

 be seen in the fine tall trees growing in the sheltered 

 valley in which Furness Abbey stands, as compared with 

 the stunted growth on the exposed hill-sides around. 

 Nor can the Scotch firs on the peat of the south of 

 England be taken to prove the inclement winters of the 

 prehistoric period, since they now flourish also in the 

 south of England at levels but little above the sea. For 

 the same reason also the peat bogs cannot be looked upon 

 as proving a lower temperature then than now. In 

 Somersetshire the turf moss extending from Glastonbury 

 to Highbridge is growing at the rate of from 4 to 6 feet 

 in fifteen years, so that the places where the peat is cut 

 are filled up in that time. These, however, are unim- 

 portant points in a valuable memoir which deals with the 

 district in a very comprehensive manner and in a small 

 space. 



It should be remarked, in conclusion, that the price 

 of 1 7 J. for a small octavo of 139 pp. in paper wrap- 

 pers is without precedent and unreasonable, and that the 

 policy of absurdly high prices for Survey Memoirs, 

 which, as it appears from the two last publications, is 

 being pursued by the Stationery Office, is certain to 

 restrict the sale, and thus render them comparatively use- 

 less. They cannot be expected to pay their cost any 

 more than the Reports of Parliamentary Commissions ; 

 they ought to be issued at a mere nominal sum, and dis- 

 tributed with a liberality like that shown in similar cases 

 by the American Government. 



W. Boyd Dawkins 



SCIENTIFIC HORTICULTURE 

 The Parks and Gardens of Paris. By W. Robinson, 

 F.L.S. Second Edition, Revised. (London : Mac- 

 millan and Co., 1878.) 



THE Science of Horticulture are words often used and 

 too often misused. That there is science in horti- 

 culture, or that it is capable of being based on scientific 

 principles, cannot be denied. There is sufficient in the 

 cultivation of plants and flowers, and in their proper 

 disposition in the garden, to occupy a highly refined 

 and cultivated intellect. A garden, according to its 

 dimensions and capabilities, has always been, and is still, 



more or less a delight to its owners. Like everything 

 else, the taste exercised in the science of gardening has 

 in different ages shown itself in various ways. The 

 hideous clipping of hedges and shrubs into the forms of 

 animals, birds, &c., still occasionally to be seen in some 

 old English gardens, are records of one of the worst 

 periods of gardening in this country, and the modern 

 system of carpet or ribbon bedding, aptly termed by Mr, 

 Robinson the "coloured cotton handkerchief" style, is 

 not one whit more defensible, but rather, we should say, 

 even more reprehensible, considering what has been done 

 and written of late with the view of elevating public taste 

 in matters of science and art generally. 



To no book can we point with so much satisfaction on 

 the subject of laying out or grouping plants or trees in 

 parks or gardens as to that which now lies before us. No 

 writer on this, or on kindred subjects, has discoursed more 

 pleasantly than has Mr. Robinson. That his theme has 

 inspired his pen as that of a ready writer is self-evident ; 

 and that he is a true lover of plants for their own sake is 

 also apparent from his frequent references to individual 

 species. But he is something more than this, for it will 

 be found from a perusal of his book that he possesses a 

 thorough knowledge of his subject. 



It must not be imagined from the title of the book 

 that the parks and gardens of Paris are, in their entirety, 

 held up for our admiration and imitation. On the con- 

 trary the author distinctly points out, and separates the 

 good from the bad, the true from the false, retaining, so 

 to speak, the wheat and consuming the chaff" with the 

 fire of a powerful criticism. Notwithstanding this, there 

 can be no two opinions as to the general superiority of 

 the French capital over that of our own in point of pic- 

 turesque beauty. No visitor to Paris — and no one 

 probably has ever visited that city without visiting also 

 the Bois de Boulogne — can have failed to compare in his 

 own mind the sylvan beauty of the Bois, and the ragged 

 uncared-for appearance of our own London parks ; and the 

 contrast is even greater in the squares and gardens of the 

 two capitals, and yet as Mr. Robinson points out, there 

 are excellent sites and splendid opportunities in London 

 to make it a city suitable for other purposes besides those 

 of business and toil. To properly effect this of course 

 architecture and horticulture must join hands. Never- 

 theless much depends upon a proper provision by the 

 architect for the horticulturist and landscape gardener to 

 exercise their skill. As an illustration of how this may be 

 done, Mr. Robinson draws attention to the new avenue 

 between the new Opera House and the Rue de Rivoli in 

 Paris, and points out that they "have not only been 

 made without cost to the town, but even with a balance 

 on the right side, the vastly increased value of sites for 

 business premises in these new'and noble streets having 

 more than repaid the cost of their formation and the 

 removal of the old houses through which they were 

 driven. Abroad, every little] capital possessing enough 

 interest to occupy one for two hours, is furbishing up its 

 attractions, while we in London are neglecting advantages 

 the like of which are not possessed by any other city in 

 Europe. The river, the bridges, the suburbs, the sur- 

 roundings are infinitely superior to Paris, but owing to 

 stupid absence of plan many of the good points are lost, 

 many of the best suburbs being unknown ground even 



