476 



NATURE 



[February 14, 19 18 



are riddled with shrapnel and bullets and torn by frag- 

 ments of shell, while here and there unexploded' shells 

 may stijl be seen embedded in the stems. Aveluy 

 Wood, however, affords another example of the effort 

 being made by Nature to beautify the general scene 

 of desolation. Here some of the trees are still alive, 

 though badly broken, but the ground beneath is 

 covered with a dense growth of the rose-bay willow 

 herb {Epilobium angusiifoUum) extending over several 

 acres. Seen from across the valley, this great sheet of 

 rosy-pink was a most striking obje'ct, and' the shattered 

 and broken trees rising out of it looked less forlorn 

 than elsewhere. 



The innumerable shell-hole ponds present many in- 

 teresting features to the biologist. In July they 'were 

 half-full of water, and abounded in water beetles and 

 other familiar pond creatures, with dragonflies flitting 

 around. In nearly every shell-hole examined, just 

 above the water-level, was a band of the annual rush 

 (Jiincus bufonius, var. gracilis), and this plant appeared 

 to be confined to those zones where the ground 

 was relatively moist, and to occur nowhere else. With 

 the Juncus, and oftfen growing out of the water, were 

 stout plants of Polygonum per sicaria, and water grasses, 

 not in flower, were often seen spreading their leaves 

 over the surface of the pools. 



In the battlefield area not only were the common 

 cornfield weeds to be seen, but here and there patches 

 of oats and barley, and occasionally plants of wheat, 

 sometimes apparently definitely sovvn, perhaps bv the 

 Germans, though more often the plants must "have 

 grown from self-sown seeds of crops that were on the 

 land before the war. Here and there, too, could be 

 seen opium poppies representing former cultivation and 

 remnants of battered currant and other bushes which 

 alone remained to show where once had been a cottage 

 garden. Both weeds and corn afford good evidence 

 that the soil has not been rendered sterile by the heavy 

 shelling, but how and when the land can be brought 

 into a fit state for cultivation are questions not easilv 

 answered. 



On the banks and sides of the roads traces of the 

 old permanent flora still remain, and perennial plants, 

 such as Scabiosa arvensis, Eryngium campestre, 

 Galium verum, chiccry, Centaurea scabiosa, Cnicus 

 acaulis, and other characteristic chalk plants were 

 occasionally seen. 



The clothing of this large tract of country with such 

 a mass of vegetation composed almost entirely of 

 common annual cornfield weeds is remarkable when 

 one remembers that it has been the seat of encamp- 

 ments, and for the most part out of cultivation 

 since the autumn of 1914. It is well-nigh impossible 

 that such masses of seed can have been carried by 

 wind or birds to cover these thousands of acres, and 

 the plants must therefore have grown from seed lying 

 dormant in the ground. No doubt in the ordinary 

 operations of ploughing and tilling of the ground in 

 years before the war much seed was buried which has 

 been brought to the surface by the shelling of the 

 ground and subsequent weathering. In this connec- 

 tion the presence of charlock on the more recently dug 

 graves, where the chalk now forms the actual surface, 

 is of interest, since it adds further proof of the longevity 

 of this seed when well buried in the soil. 



List of Plants. 

 Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb., larkspur; Papaver 

 Rhoeas, L., poppy; Fumaria officinalis, L., fumi- 

 tory; Raphanus Raphanistrum, L., white charlock ; 

 Brassica sinapis. Vis., yellow charlock; Matricaria 

 chamoniilla, L., chamomile; Centaurea cyanus, L,., 

 cornflower; Cnicus arvensis, Hoffm., thistle; Sonchus 

 arvens'is, L., corn sowthistle ; Sonchus oleraceus, L., 

 NO. 2520, VOL. IO0I 



sowthistle; Specularia speculum, "A. DC, looking-glass 

 flower; Anagallis arvensis, L., scarlet pimpernel; 

 Myosotis arvensis, Hoffm., forget-me-not; Convolvulus 

 arvensis, L., small bindweed; Solanum nigrum, L., 

 nightshade; Plantago major, L., etc., plantain';' 

 Veronica hederaefolia, L., etc., speedwell; Galeopsis 

 ladanum, L., hemp-nettle; Chenopodium album, L., 

 goosefoot; Atriplex patula, L., orache ; Polygonum 

 aviculare, L., knotgrass; Polygonum persicaria, L., 

 persicaria; Rumex obtusifolius, L., dock; Euphorbia 

 helioscopia, L., sun spurge; Mercurialis annua, L., 

 dog's mercury; Juncus bufonius, L., var. gracilis, St. 

 -Amand rush.' A few grasses and occasional plants or 

 patches of oats, barley, and wheat. 



COAL CONSERVATION AND ELECTRIC 

 POWER SUPPLY. 



VyE referred in our issue of January 3 to the in- 

 terim report on electric power supply in Great 

 Britain prepared by the Coal Conservation Sub-Com- 

 mittee of the Reconstruction Committee. Dr. C. 

 Addison, Minister of Reconstruction, states in an intro- 

 ductory note that the important issues affecting muni- 

 cipalities and public bodies raised in the report will be 

 explored in all respects by the Government before any 

 action is proposed to Parliament upon the subject. 



The report deals, first, with the extent to which 

 conservation of coal could effect economv in the 

 production of motive power and other forms "of energy 

 used for industrial purposes in this country; secondly, 

 with the expansion of industry which should result, in 

 the way of new manufactures, from the proper use of 

 the coal so saved ; and thirdly, with the steps necessary 

 to attain these objects. 



It contains many valuable tables and other details, 

 and the following summary of the chief points dealt 

 with and the conclusions arrived at : — 



(i) The coal consumption involved in the production 

 of motive power in the United Kingdom amounts at 

 the present time to 80,000,000 tons per annum, equiva- 

 lent in value to, say, 40,000,000/. at pit-head. 



(2) In the industrial reorganisation which must take 

 place on the termination of the war the further de- 

 velopment of power is of great importance. The pre- 

 sent use of motive power per employee is only about 

 half that in the United States of America. Large 

 quantities of electrical power will be required for the 

 development and carrying on of new processes not at 

 present undertaken in this country. Processes involv- 

 ing some millions of horse-power at present worked in 

 America, Norway and Sweden, Germany, etc., can be 

 profitably carried on, and, having in view the desir- 

 abilitv of making all essential products in the Empire, 

 should be carried on in this country. 



(3) It is onlv by largely increasing the amount of 

 power used in industry (by two or more times) that the 

 average output per head (and as a consequence the 

 wages of the individual) can be increased. The pre- 

 war earning power, or wages, of each individual was 

 far too low. 



(4) Power may be most eflficiently applied to industry 

 by the medium of electricity. 



(5) The economical generation of the electrical energy 

 so required is thus of great importance, and the first 

 question to be answered is whether the best economy 

 can be obtained by each works or municipal area pro- 

 viding for its own individual needs, or by a compre- 

 hensive scheme. 



(6) Technically and economically the electrical energy 

 can be best provided by a comprehensive svstem, as 

 may be amply proved from experience gained in those 



