548 



NA TURE 



[April 29, 1922 



40 Blatter der Karte des Deutschen Retches i : 100,000 

 ausgewdhlt fur Unterrichtszwecke. Erlauterungen 

 bearbeitet von Dr. W. Behrmann. Veroffenlicht 

 von der Gesellschaft filr Erdkunde zu Berlin. 

 Zweite Auflage. Size 17 in. x 15 in. Handbook, Pp. 

 62. (Berlin : R. Eisenschmidt, 1921.) Germany, 

 60 marks ; England, 180 marks. 

 The portfolio of forty maps under notice consists of 

 reprints of German surveys on the scale of i to 100,000. 

 The first edition, published some nine years ago, was 

 essentially the same except for three sheets, Metz, 

 Gebweiler, and Oltingen, v/hich have been omitted 

 since the regions they cover are now outside German 

 territory. Three other sheets have been substituted. 

 The collection has been made for educational purposes, 

 and with this end in view illustrates as many types of 

 land forms and geographical features as possible within 

 the limits of the country. The sheets, which are in 

 black and white, are finely printed and leave no ground 

 for criticism as regards reproduction. Surface features 

 of relief are shown by hachures only. This method, 

 excellent as it may be for a general impression, gives 

 no absolute information and precision of detail. It 

 has also the disadvantage of making the map so dark, 

 on the steeper slopes that other symbols, and parti- 

 cularly the names, are almost illegible. In fact, if these 

 sheets have any great fault, it is one common to most 

 German maps, namely, the attempt to show more than 

 the scale will allow. In spite of this, however, the 

 collection should prove extremely useful, and might 

 well be imitated for the British Isles by the Ordnance 

 Survey. A pamphlet giving a description of the 

 sheets accompanies the portfolio. 



Physical Map of England and Wales, i : 1,000,000. 

 Size 34J in, x 26 in. (Southampton : Ordnance 

 Survey Office, 1922.) 25-. (Not less than 20 copies 

 for educational purposes, is. each.) 

 The Ordnance Survey has produced a beautifully 

 printed map which leaves little to be desired in the 

 way of cartographical skill and excellence in repro- 

 duction. Surface relief is shown by layer colouring 

 in green and brown. The contours are at 200, 400, 

 800, 1200, and 2000 feet. Rivers, lakes, and water 

 names are in blue ; other names are in black. No 

 submarine relief is shown. The addition of this would 

 improve the map for educational purposes. Some 

 criticism may be offered with regard to the names. 

 These are comparatively few in number; this is 

 certainly an advantage, but a few more names of 

 physical features might have been inserted. The fine 

 black type used for these names does not obscure the 

 map, and we miss such names as Charnwood Forest, 

 Solway Plain, Fenland, Forest Ridges, or Aire Gap. 

 The system on which the town names, printed in 

 heavy black, have been selected is not very apparent. 

 Such towns as Oldham, Sunderland, Gainsboro', 

 Yarmouth, and Goole, to mention only a few large 

 places, are omitted while many relatively unimportant 

 names are to be found. The nearest towns to Man- 

 chester to be found on the map are Buxton, Liverpool, 

 and Northwich, while in other less populated parts of 

 the country the names are more crowded. No 

 administrative names and no communications are 

 marked. The low price is noteworthy. 



NO. 2739, VOL. 109] 



Contribution a V Etude de la Flore du Katangar. Par 

 E. de Wildeman (Comite Special du Katanga). Pp. 

 viii + cxHv + 264. (Bruxelles : D. Reynaert, 1921.) 

 n.p. 



The large district of Katanga forms the south-eastern 

 corner of that part of Africa which is now under 

 Belgian rule. It is governed by the Comite Special du 

 Katanga, under the auspices of which this account of 

 the vegetation of the country has been prepared and 

 published. Four districts are recognised in considering 

 the flora, namely, the Kasai, the middle Katanga or 

 Upper Congo, the district of the great lakes, or the 

 Tanganyika region, which forms the eastern limit, 

 and the Upper Katanga district. A sketch is given 

 of the botanical geography of the two last-mentioned 

 districts ; and Dr. de Wildeman dissents from Scott 

 Elliot's view that the Tanganyika basin forms botanic- 

 ally merely a part of the great western Congo-Niger 

 area, but regards it as an area with very special 

 characters. 



The Upper Katanga is described in greater detail, 

 and some features of its vegetation are illustrated 

 by a number of photographic reproductions. Dr. de 

 Wildeman insists on the importance of the conservation 

 of the forests ; the number of useful species at present 

 known is not great, but forestry investigations will 

 probably reveal others. A large portion of the volume 

 is occupied with a systematic enumeration of the flower- 

 ing plants already known from the area ; these number 

 about 1900, but probably represent less than half the 

 actual flora. A map of the whole district, indicating 

 its relation to surrounding districts, would have been 

 a useful addition. 



Technique des Petroles. By R. Courau. Pp. 406 + 19 

 Plates. (Paris : Octave Doin, 1921.) Price 16 

 francs. 



Practically every phase of petroleum technology is 

 covered by this volume, and as a general text-book it 

 will be of considerable utility. Much of the subject 

 matter is treated somewhat summarily, particularly in 

 the geological section ; in fact this suffers from undue 

 brevity when contrasted with the engineering and 

 chemical aspects of the science. 



The arrangement of the text is systematic, and it is 

 primarily divided into two books, the first dealing with 

 the geology and economic development of petroleum, 

 and the second with its chemical and physical properties, 

 methods of refining, storage, and transport. Unlike 

 many books of this description, there is no overcrowding 

 with tables of constants, statistics, etc., and space is 

 therefore available for a consideration of certain 

 technical operations which either receive scanty treat- 

 ment or are omitted altogether from similar publications 

 elsewhere. We should have preferred, however, the 

 inclusion of the figures in the text rather than in their 

 less convenient form of plates at the end of the book, 

 while the omission of a detailed index is also rather 

 unfortunate. Apart from this and the fact that the 

 present rate of exchange makes the book an extremely 

 cheap purchase in this country, it is well worth reading, 

 if only to obtain the French view of current oilfield 

 development and refinery technique. 



H. B. MiLNER. 



