ANUARY 24, 19 1 8] 



NATURE 



40: 



^'The presence of cork enables one to distinguish 

 Spanish from Russian Hcorice. " It really only 

 enables one to distinguish unpeeled from peeled 

 root, and there are several varieties of each. " In 

 Canella alba the periderm is replaced by stone 

 cell-cork." This "cell-cork" is not cork at all, 

 but phelloderm. "The cells . . . are of a typical 

 cork shape, but the walls are lignified, unequally 

 thickened. ..." The walls of typical cork cells 

 are very frequently lignified and often unequally 

 thickened. "The inner or thicker walls are 

 strongly porous." From the illustration it would 

 appear that the outer walls are the thicker. " The 

 cork periderm which fissures and scales off as the 

 root increases in diameter." Canella alba bark 

 is obtained from the stem and not from the root : 

 the cork periderm does not scale off, but has to 

 be loosened by beating. 



It is to be regretted that in its present form the 

 book cannot be recommended for either teacher 

 or student. It possesses, however, some elements 

 •of a useful work, notably the carefully executed 

 illustrations. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 Bedfordshire. By C. Gore Chambers. Pp. x + 195. 



(Cambridge : At the University Press, 191 7.) 



Price 15. 6d. net. 

 Though one of the smallest English counties and 

 with nearly nine-tenths of its area lying in one 

 river basin, Bedfordshire possesses considerable 

 -geographical interest. Travellers by the Midland 

 Railway, which traverses its length from Luton to 

 near Wellingborough, cross five geological belts 

 and can recognise each in passing by characteristic 

 features of contour, tree flora, agriculture, and 

 building material. In the churches, manor houses, 

 and "motte and baileys" there is a wealth of 

 archaeological interest. Moreover, it was in this 

 ■county that James Wyatt and, later, Worthington 

 Smith obtained their evidence of the existence of 

 Palaeolithic man in Britain. 



This and much more finds adequate description 

 in Mr. Gore Chambers's book. It follows the lines 

 of the Cambridge County Geographies, and well 

 maintains the standard of that series. The l^est 

 sections are those dealing with ecclesiastical archi- 

 tecture, history, and antiquities, though, under the 

 last-named, one looks in vain for any reference to 

 the "lynches " of the northern escarpment of the 

 Chilterns. Considering the varied flora and fauna, 

 the natural history section is rather disappointing 

 and needs revision. Under "Industries" a good 

 Tiistorical account is given of the straw-hat manu- 

 facture. 



Though the author did not live to see its publi- 

 cation, the book has been well edited and illus- 

 trated. "Father" for "fat-hen," as a local name 

 for goosefoot, is the only misprint noticed. As a 

 record it brings us down to 191 4. Sinte then 

 geographical change has been rapid. The gale 

 of March, 1916, swept away the great walnut 

 orchard noted on p. 55. The war is bring^ing 

 changes far more profound : new industries into 

 NO. 2517, VOL. 100] 



wuntry places, steam cultivators into the grass- 

 lands, sawmills into the woods. A new era has 

 begun, and it is all to the good that the book gives 

 us a faithful picture of the county at the close of 

 , an era which has passed away. T. S. D. 



The PupiVs Class-book of Geography: Scotland; 

 Asia, with special reference to India. Each 

 by Ed. J. S. Lay. Pp. 96 and pp. 128. 

 (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) 

 Price 7d. and 8d. respectively. 

 It is no easy matter to present geographical prin- 

 I ciples in a way that can readily be grasped by 

 : the average child of nine or ten years of age, but 

 Mr. Lay has been fairly successful in. his attempt, 

 apart from a few lapses into the old-time 

 memorising of place-names. TTie volumes are 

 intended for study by the children themselves. 

 With this end in view, they contain numerous 

 I questions, all of which can be answered from the 

 ! text and the maps, and simple exercises in map- 

 and diagram-drawing. Each book contains 

 I many diagrams and black-and-white maps, most 

 ; of which are excellent, so that it is complete in 

 itself and does not entail the use of an atlas. 

 In the two volumes named above the author has 

 been more successful in that dealing with Scot- 

 land. Asia is a more difficult task, and as half 

 the volume is devoted to the Indian Empire the 

 sense of proportion is lost — a serious defect in all 

 geographical study. Climate is treated simply in 

 accordance with the general plan : in Scotland the 

 author has successfully evaded most pitfalls in 

 his simplification, but in the case of Asia the treat- 

 ment is less happy. The low price of the books 

 is noteworthy. R. N. R. B. 



The Historical Register of the University of Cam- 

 bridge. Edited by Dr. J. R. Tanner. Pp. xii + 

 1 186. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 

 1917.) Price 125. 6d. net. 



This volume forms a supplement to the "Cam- 

 bridge University Calendar," and provides a 

 record of University oflfices, honours, and distinc- 

 tions to the year 1910. Up to 191 3, when it had 

 grown to 1547 pages, the "Calendar" itself con- 

 tained historical information ; but in that year the 

 Syndics of the Press decided to transfer the his- 

 torical particulars to a separate " Historical 

 Register," to be published less frequently. This 

 rearrangement has made it possible to publish 

 additional historical data, and among the added 

 matter in the present volume may be mentioned 

 lists of holders of University offices, professorships, 

 and so on, from the earliest date of which there 

 is any record ; sections on the historical jurisdic- 

 tion and procedure of the University courts, cere- 

 monies, costume and discipline, as well as on the 

 history of the Mathematical Tripos ; and enlarged 

 indexes. The Tripos lists in the old "Calendar," 

 moreover, have been collated with the original 

 sources, aegrotats and honorary optimes have 

 also been included, and the footnotes have been 

 rewritten. 



