Dec. 29, 1887] 



NA TURE 



199 



some time, the colony will once more be in a position to 

 supply the necessary forest produce from its own wood- 

 lands. At the same time the financial aspect of the 

 business has not been overlooked, and there are indica- 

 tions that the woodlands will before long prove to be a 

 source of substantial income to the colonial Exchequer. 



The forests of the Cape deserve to be carefully pre- 

 served, not only for the purpose of their direct utility in 

 providing timber and other produce, but also for their 

 usefulness in other respects. Whether their existence v/ill 

 increase the rainfall to any appreciable extent may be a 

 matter of doubt, but they certainly moderate the tempera- 

 ture and reduce evaporation ; in other words, they hus- 

 band the water which falls on the soil. This effect is all 

 the more important, because Cape Colony is situated, 

 approximately, between the 28th and 35th degrees of 

 south latitude, and the rainfall over about half the area 

 amounts to less than 10 inches a year, while only a 

 comparatively small portion enjoys a rainfall' of over 

 20 inches. 



Considering these matters, we trust that the colonial 

 authorities will now persevere in making up for past 

 remissness by maintaining steadily a policy of efficient 

 forest conservancy. It needed many warnings before 

 the proper steps were taken, and in this respect no one 

 deserves more praise than Dr. Brown. By raising his 

 voice loudly during the years 1863-66 he has certainly 

 deserved well of the Cape Colony. While it is a pleasure 

 to record this, it is to be regretted that our author has not 

 succeeded in placing the history of the case before the 

 public in a more readable form than that adopted in the 

 present volume. Sw. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Thomas A. Edison and Samuel F. B. Morse. By Van 

 Buren Denslow, LL.D., and Jane Marsh Parker. 

 (London : Cassell and Co., 1887.) 



This book is an evident compilation, principally of news- 

 paper cuttings from the other side of the Atlantic. The 

 authors are Americans. Edison is posed as the inventor of 

 the duplex and quadruplex systems of telegraphy, though 

 each was invented in Europe when he was seven years 

 old ; while Morse is lauded as having sent the first telegram 

 in 1844, when telegraphy was seven years old, and flourish- 

 ing well in England. Edison's grandfather lived to be 102 

 years old, his father is now living at 83. Itis tobehopedthat 

 he will live long enough to tire out these foolish defamers 

 of his true merit, for merit, industry, and inventive skill 

 he certainly has. Personally he is a charming man, and 

 impresses one with his modesty and communicativeness. 

 The phonograph, carbon transmitter, and glow lamp are 

 quite sufficient to establish his fame without dragging in 

 apparatus he simply altered or perhaps improved. We 

 read in this silly book, " The very words * electric light,' 

 must stand for ever as closely associated with the name of 

 Edison as is gravitation with Newton or the telescope 

 with Galileo." 



We read (p. 96) : — " There have been four eras in the 

 history of the magnetic telegraph. In each of these eras 

 a citizen of the United States has been conspicuous. . . . 

 The first era was that of Franklin and his kite. . . . The 

 second era was that of invention — the era of Morse, 

 Henry House {sic), and Daniell [so the authors reckon 

 Daniell an American !]. Had the Daniell battery been 



known in 1827, one Harrison Gray Dyer, of New York, 

 would have given to the world what Prof Morse did not 

 complete until some seventeen years after. 



" The third era was that of the evolution of the telegraph 

 — the multiplication of its effects. Of the many names 

 conspicuous in this era none are more deserving of special 

 mention than Hiram Sibley, and none take precedence of 

 Thomas Alva Edison." [N.B. — Edison was born in 1847.] 

 The fourth era was " an era of chaos in its beginning, 

 when Morse lines. Bain lines. House lines, and O'Reilly 

 lines, with their endless litigations over infringements of 

 patents and broken contracts, local jealousies, disastrous 

 competitions, unequal and capricious tariffs, made invest- 

 ing in telegraph stocks a sure method of throwing away 

 money." 



And this is history ! 



The following story is gravely told : — 



" When the boy (Edison) was a little under six years old, 

 he became greatly interested in the fidelity with which 

 an old goose was brooding her nest of eggs. When the 

 young family of golden-green goslings came out and took 

 to the water, he was told that this astounding result was 

 produced simply by the animal heat of the old bird sitting 

 on them. The first lesson in organic chemistry was of a 

 kind too remarkable to be let slip without testing it by 

 experiment. Soon after the boy was missed. Messengers 

 were sent after him everywhere, but he could not be 

 found. ' By and by,' says the sister, ' don't you think 

 father found him curled up in a nest he had made in 

 the barn, sitting on goose eggs and hen eggs and trying 

 to hatch them ? ' " 



Sound, Light, and Heat. By Mark R. Wright. (Lon- 

 don : Longmans, Green, and Co., 1887.) 



We gladly welcome the appearance of such an admirable 

 text-book as the one before us. It embraces the work 

 required for the various elementary examinations in 

 sound, light, and heat, but it is in no sense a cram-book. 

 The subjects are treated experimentally, and the arrange- 

 ment is apparently that which practical experience in 

 teaching has led the author to believe to be the best. 

 The experiments described are thoroughly practical, but, 

 at the same time, the apparatus required is comparatively 

 simple. The author is of opinion — and we quite agree 

 with him — that a beginner's time is best spent in making 

 himself acquainted with the facts of science ; he has 

 accordingly given little space to theoretical considera- 

 tions, but he has carefully avoided making statements 

 that might lead the student to form notions at variance 

 with the modern theories. 



The drawings, and the descriptions of the apparatus 

 they represent, leave nothing to be desired. The nume- 

 rical examples, of which there is a great number, com- 

 bined with the experimental treatment, entitle the book to 

 rank as one of our best text-books of elementary science, 

 and we can confidently recommend it. 



Through the West Indies. By Mrs. Granville Layard. 

 (London: Sampson Low, 1887.) 



The author of this little book spent several months in 

 the West Indies, and heartily enjoyed her expedition. 

 She has nothing very new to say about the various places 

 she visited, but she writes pleasantly, and succeeds in 

 conveying a vivid impression of many of the scenes by 

 which she herself was strongly impressed. Occasionally 

 she offers shrewd suggestions as to the industry and trade 

 of the West Indian Islands, and she gives as an appendix 

 a useful paper on " The Sugar Question." This paper 

 contains the substance of notes and suggestions furnished 

 by the Hon. W. H. loner, Member of the Legislative 

 Council, Barbados. 



