September 13, 191 7j 



NATURE 



27 



LINGUISTIC AND POLITICAL 

 BOUNDARIES IN EUROPE. 



NATIONALITY is to serve as an important 

 factor in determining the boundaries of the 

 New Europe. On broad lines the safest guide 

 to the nationality of any populace is the language 

 commonly spoken, usually the mother-tongue. 

 Hence the importance of a map like that 1 lately 

 published by Messrs. Stanford. Consider for a 

 moment the political boundaries, both inter- 

 national and national, of Austria-Hungary. 

 Practically nowhere do they coincide with a 

 linguistic boundary. The only people wholly 

 within that empire are the Magyars, who inhabit 

 a compact block of territory bounded on the 

 south by the Drave and the Maros, on the north 

 by the foothills of the Carpathians, on the west 

 by a line slightly west of south from Pressburg 

 to the Drave, and on the east by a line north-east 

 from Arad. South-east of the Magyars lie the 

 Rumanians, who extend beyond the Carpathian 

 political boundary; they include islands of Mag- 

 yar and German settlers, former frontier guards. 

 Along the south and to the south-west the great 

 ^roup of the Yugo-Slavs (Serbs, Croats, and 

 Slovenes) extends beyond the confines of Austria- 

 Hungary. To the west lie the Austrian Germans, 

 A\ ho fill the Danube valley westwards beyond the 

 frontier. North-west are the Slovaks, who link 

 with the Moravians and Czechs as one great 

 branch of the northern Slavs. These peoples do 

 not reach the Austro-German frontier, since they 

 meet the Germans within the borders of 

 Bohemia, or the Austro-Russian frontier, since 

 they meet the Poles. To the north-east the 

 Magyars adjoin the Ruthenes, or Little Russians, 

 Avhose limit is far to the east beyond the Don. 



Suppose an independent Magyar kingdom be 

 •established, what are the chances of stability? 

 First, a homogeneous race ; secondly, a zone rail- 

 way system which concentrates on the capital, 

 Budapest; and, thirdly, a unity of soil, climate, 

 and products mainly agricultural — all these tend 

 to preservation. On the other hand, there would 

 be no Magyar outlet to the sea, the two great 

 waterways, Danube and Theiss, would not join 

 In Magyar territory, and no boat could journey 

 by Pressburg to Szabadka through Magyar ter- 

 ritorial waters for the complete voyage. The 

 great trunk railway from Vienna to Constanti- 

 nople would only serve the south-western corner. 

 Finally, would the Magyar kingdom march with 

 Russia on the north-east and with Germany on 

 the west? 



Contrast this kingdom with Poland, cut across 

 by pre-war international boundaries. The Poles 

 form the most numerous non-German people in 

 the German Empire ; they extend into .Austrian 

 Silesia, and practically fill Galicia west of the 

 San. Unlike the Magyars, the Poles reach the 

 sea, along a few miles of coast west of Danzig. 

 They march, however, with Germans on the west, 

 ■"•ith Russians on the east, and with a Slav people 



" A Sketch-map of the Linguistic Area* of Europe." Scale, so'8 ii)iles= 

 . (London : Edward Stanford, Ltd.) Pricr, in 4 sheets, 72 in. by 61 in., 

 s. ; mounted on rollers, 2/. 15J. ; fo'ded in doth case, 3/. lo^. 



— Czecho-Slovaks — on the south-west. The 

 linguistic boundaries of Magyars and of Poles 

 rarely lie along rivers or mountain ranges ; will 

 the new era bring into play new factors which will 

 determine the stability and utility of political 

 boundaries? 



Messrs. Stanford have done a public service in 

 publishing this map, which should be examined 

 and re-examined by all who are interested in the 

 determination of the conditions which will make 

 for a lasting peace. 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY IN CANADA.' 



DR. GORDON HEWITT'S recent report is an 

 encouraging record of useful work. 

 It forms a noteworthy testimony of his 

 capability as an administrator and, at the 

 same time, reflects great credit upon the Canadian 

 Department of Agriculture in its wise provision 

 for the needs of combating insect pests. In any 

 such organisation as the Canadian Entomological 

 Branch success to a large extent is dependent 

 upon the individual capabilities and enthusiasm 

 of field officers and assistants. Dr. Hewitt is in- 

 deed fortunate in having an excellent staff, com- 

 prising men well qualified to deal with the various 

 problems first hand, wherever they may be re- 

 ported. During the year under review four new 

 entomological field laboratories have been erected 

 in several parts of Canada ; this in itself is a 

 praiseworthy achievement. An addition to the 

 permanent staff has also been made in the appoint- 

 ment of Dr. A. E. Cameron. Dr. Cameron is a 

 former research scholar of our own Board of Agri- 

 culture, and conducted investigations in the 

 Department of Agricultural Entomology at Man- 

 chester University. 



In a country like Canada, the administration of 

 the Destructive Insect and Pest Act naturally in- 

 volves a good deal of routine work. More than 2^^ 

 millions of imported trees and plants were ex- 

 amined in 1914-15. This work had special 

 reference to gipsy and brown-tail moths and other 

 foreign insect pests. Dr. Hewitt tells us, how- 

 ever, that owing to the war this number is only 

 about one-half of that imported during the corre- 

 sponding period the previous year. It appears 

 that the intensity of the infestation of these two 

 moths in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick has 

 decreased, though the area over which they have 

 spread has become extended. An excellent feature 

 is the co-operation which has taken place with the 

 U.S. Government in suppressing these pests, and 

 in introducing into Canada certain of their more 

 important insect enemies. The army cutworm 

 (Chorizagrotis auxiliaris) occurred as an extensive 

 outbreak in a corn-producing area of about 3000 

 square miles in S. Alberta. Prompt measures 

 were, however, undertaken and widespread 

 damage prevented. The lesser migratory locust 

 (Melanoplus atlanis) was very abundant in Eastern 

 Canada, but the timely publication of an entomo- 

 logical circular on the subject disseminated neces- 



» Report of the Dominion Entomologist for the Year ending March 31 

 1916. By Dr. C. Gordon Hewitt. Pp. 73-1-7 fig« (Ottawa, 1917.) 



NO. 2498, VOL. 100] 



