126 



NATURE 



[Dec. 8, 1887 



economic entomology is always of good service in any 

 country, and New Zealand may be congratulated on 

 having Mr. Maskell at hand to supply a demand 

 generated by the improved intelligence of the agricultural 

 community. 



Ol/R BOOK SHELF. 



Pen and Pencil in Asia Minor ; or, Notes from the 

 Levattt. By William Cochran. Illustrated with eighty- 

 nine engravings, made chiefly from water-colour sketches 

 by the Author. (London : Sampson Low and Co., 

 1887.) 



This well-printed volume of over 450 pages is one of a 

 class that we had thought had become extinct. The notes 

 begin with the arrival of the author at the Alexandra 

 Docks in Liverpool, and are continued almost daily, in 

 some instances hourly, until the close of a five-months' 

 tour through the Mediterranean to Smyrna, Constanti- 

 nople, and then, with some slight journeys inland, back 

 again by the same route to Liverpool. 



No doubt the journey was pleasant, and we feel sure 

 that the note-taking and the water-colour sketching were 

 very agreeable occupations for the tourist ; but probably 

 even the author's friends would admit that as now laid 

 before the world the text contains nothing either very 

 novel or attractive, while of the many scenes sketched, 

 omitting the sketches from photographs, we may say that 

 it would be hardly fair to criticize them from an art point 

 of view. The volume is not, however, without its merits. 

 The author deserves credit for the earnest way in which 

 he has called attention to the importance of encouraging 

 the tea and silk industries, and we sincerely hope for the 

 good of our colonies that his efforts in the direction of 

 silk culture in Australia and New Zealand may eventually 

 be as successful as tea-farming has been in Ceylon. 



One chief object of the voyage to Smyrna was to see 

 the result of Mr. John Griffitt's silk-farming in Asia 

 Minor. At one time the silk industry was one of great 

 importance in and about Smyrna, but owing to the silk- 

 worm disease it became almost extinct, so that even the 

 very mulberry-trees were used for firewood. Now, 

 through the philanthropic zeal of Mr. Griffitts in supply- 

 ing silkworm eggs not only free from disease but raised 

 from carefully-selected varieties, the industry is being 

 restored, and large numbers of mulberry-trees are being 

 planted. 



Several chapters in this volume are devoted to the 

 subjects of the rearing of silkworms, and of the treatment 

 of the mulberry-trees. From the hatching out of the 

 larval forms to the reeling off of the silk, only some forty 

 to forty-five days elapse, but though the labour be short, 

 the care and attention required are very great, and the 

 successful silk rearer learns various lessons of method 

 and cleanliness which are of permanent value. 



In chapter ix. we have a summary of Mr. Griffitt's 

 valuable report on the silk trade, furnished to the De- 

 partment of State, Washington. From it we learn that 

 at one time in Smyrna there were three large silk-reeling 

 factories, driven by steam, where hundreds of female 

 hands were employed. When, on the failure of the indi- 

 genous worms, Japanese worms were introduced, it was 

 found that it required double the number of cocoons 

 to yield the same weight of silk. With Mr. Griffitt's 

 improved native race of silkworms, the quality of the silk 

 is better, and the produce much heavier than before. To 

 those interested in silk culture we can recommend 

 the perusal of this volume, which, indeed, would 

 be better described as " Notes on Silk Culture in 

 Smyrna." 



A Catalogue of the Flora of Matheran and Mahableshwar. 

 By the Hon. H. M. Birdwood, M.A., LL.M. With a 

 Note by Dr. Theodore Cooke, LL.D., F.G.S. ' (1887.) 



This little botanical work is a reprint from the Journal 

 of the Bombay Natural History Society. It will be useful 

 to persons visiting the localities botanized ; and the records 

 of the upper limits of various plants are interesting to 

 botanists at a distance. 



Mahableshwar is in the Ghauts, about a hundred miles 

 south of Bombay, and the highest part of this healthy 

 resort is nearly 5000 feet above sea-level, so that there 

 are considerable changes in the vegetation in the ascent. 

 The present catalogue contains the names of less than 

 500 species of plants, a number which future investiga- 

 tions will doubtless double. As the Bombay Natural 

 History Society is still in its infancy, some singular slips 

 in the classification of the plants are perhaps excusable ; 

 and we hope the members will not feel discouraged at 

 our pointing out that ferns are not " plants with cellular 

 tissue only," nor are mosses "leafless plants." 



The Bombay Natural History Society possesses a her- 

 barium of Mahableshwar plants, presented to it by Dr. 

 Cooke, and it may be hoped that this ' will form the 

 nucleus of a collection adequately representing the whole 

 flora of the entire Presidency. Up to the present time 

 the Bombay Government has shown but little interest in 

 botanical work, and possesses none of the appliances for 

 its prosecution to be found at Calcutta, Saharunpore, 

 Madras, or Peradeniya. Yet for the Forest Department 

 alone some kind of herbarium and botanical library is 

 indispensable, unless its officers are to grope in the dark 

 as to a large proportion of the' plants they come across 

 in their duties. 



However, this is by the way. It is a sign of the 

 development of a healthier interest when a hard-worked 

 official like a judge of the High Court is found to take 

 the lead in so creditable a way in the study of the local 

 flora. 



L Homme avant I'Histoire. Par Ch. Debierre. (Paris : 

 J. B. Baillifere et Fils, 1888.) 



In this book M. Debierre gives a clear and interesting 

 account of some of the results of anthropological re- 

 search. In dealing with disputed points, however, he is 

 apt to arrive at conclusions somewhat hastily. The 

 doctrine of the unity of the human race he rejects, but 

 he contents himself with a very slight and inadequate 

 consideration of the arguments which may be advanced 

 on the other side. Again, he assumes that there can be 

 no doubt whatever as to the Asiatic origin of the Aryan 

 or Indo-European race. That the original home of the 

 Aryans was in Europe cannot be held to have been 

 proved, but the theory has been accepted b^ so many 

 investigators, and so much may be said in favour of it, 

 that in a work of this nature it ought at least to have been 

 explained and discussed. 



Philips' Handy Volwtte Atlas of the British Empire^ 

 with Statistical Notes and Index. (London : Philip 

 and Son, 1887.) 



This little book is among the first British work of its 

 sort that we have seen. It is extremely neatly put together 

 and is well edited throughout. It contains 64 plates and 

 on them no maps, showing the British possessions in 

 the various parts of the globe. After each map is a short 

 analysis of position, extent, population, climate, industries, 

 government, orography and hydrography, &c., &c. In 

 addition to the maps there are plans of various towns. 

 Just before the index are given " Comparative Dia- 

 grams of the British Empire," comparing area, popula- 

 tion, trade, and revenue of the British possessions of the 

 different quarters of the globe. This is followed by the 



