553 



NATURE 



[January 29, 1920 



surface of the earth, and Guericke soon after had 

 proved by experiments the enormous power of the 

 pressure of the air. 



Not a few of the mathematical papers published 

 in the first (double) volume have never been printed 

 before. They deal with conic sections, spirals 

 (Torricelli discovered the logarithmic spiral), 

 maxima and minima, etc. They make us feel that 

 if a longer span of life had been granted him he 

 would have taken his place among those mathe- 

 maticians who paved the way for the advent of 

 the differential calculus. The quadrature of the 

 cycloid was one of the subjects treated in the 

 "Opera geometrica." It is well known that 

 Roberval charged Torricelli with having stolen his 

 results on this subject, as well as Fermat's method 

 of maxima and minima, and that Pascal was weak 

 enough to publish this accusation in 1658, adding 

 the assertion that Torricelli had confessed the 

 robbery. This outrageous charge was soon after 

 proved by Carlo Dati and Wallis to be utterly 

 groundless, and it only showed that Roberval was 

 not very particular as to the truth of any state- 

 ment he made. There is no reason whatever to 

 doubt that Torricelli found his results indepen- 

 dently. 



This new edition is in every way satisfactory, 

 but we could have wished that the pages of the 

 originals had been given in the margin. This is 

 too often neglected by editors of a man's collected 

 works, and the omission makes it very difficult to 

 look up quotations from the original editions. 



J. L. E. D. 



PROBLEMS OF THE FRUIT-GROWER. 

 Science and Fruit-Growing: Being an Account of 

 the Results obtained at the Wohurn Experi- 

 mental Fruit Farm since its Foundation in 

 1894. By the Duke of Bedford and Spencer 

 Pickering. Pp. xxii-f-35i. (London: Mac- 

 millan and Co., Ltd., 1919.) Price 125. 6d. 

 net. 



THE appearance of this volume will be wel- 

 comed by all interested in scientific pomo- 

 logy, and the practical fruit-grower should find 

 it indispensable as a work of reference dealing 

 with many of the problems with which in some 

 form or other he is constantly faced. In neither 

 case 'will the contents be unfamiliar, since the 

 investigations at Woburn have been closely fol- 

 lowed throughout their course, and the results 

 have been published at intervals in a series of 

 reports. Some of the latter, however, have been 

 long out of print, and for this and other obvious 

 reasons the publication of a connected and com- 

 prehensive-account of the many-sided work con- 

 NO. 2622, VOL. 104] 



ducted at Woburn since its foundation will be 

 appreciated. 



The preface quotes at length an article which 

 appeared in Nature of September 19, 1895, deal- 

 ing with the genesis of the station, which was 

 due entirely to the public-spirited enterprise of 

 the Duke of Bedford, who furnished the neces- 

 sary financial aid, and of Mr. Spencer Pickering, 

 who has now for a quarter of a century devoted 

 himself to the elucidation of some of the problems 

 of the fruit-grower, and has laboured single-handed 

 and under the additional handicap, in recent 

 years, of ill-health. Under these conditions the 

 volume of achievement has been remarkable ; and 

 although the authors recognise the limitation of 

 aim necessitated by force of circumstances and 

 plea.d for leniency of criticism, they may be 

 assured that, notwithstanding the controversial 

 character of much of their work and the storms 

 of adverse opinion aroused from time to time, the 

 world of horticulture recognises the great debt 

 which it owes to them both for the value of their 

 researches and for the stimulus given to scientific 

 investigation in horticulture in this country. 



It is impossible within the limits of a short 

 review to include adequate notice of all the sub- 

 jects of horticultural importance considered in this 

 volume. Their range is extremely wide, successive 

 chapters dealing with investigations on soil pre- 

 paration for planting, methods of planting, 

 pruning, manures, spring frost damage and its 

 prevention, the fruiting of trees in successive 

 seasons, the flowering of apple trees, insecticides 

 and fungicides, insect and fungoid pests, soil 

 sterilisation, the effect of grass on trees, the toxic 

 action of one crop on another, the behaviour of 

 plants in masses, and flocculation in soils. Since, 

 however, opportunity for individual treatment has 

 already been provided on the occasions of the 

 appearance of the separate reports previously re- 

 ferred to, attention here may be confined to a few 

 of the more general issues. 



Except in the direction of chemistry, the goal 

 aimed at was the investigation of those cultural 

 problems in which much work could be done with- 

 out the assistance of specialists in the respective 

 branches of science concerned, since the station 

 was not equipped for a more varied programme. 

 The field of work which it was possible to cover 

 within those limits was, however, remarkably 

 wide, as the list of subjects just enumerated indi- 

 cates. How far towards the solution of such cul- 

 tural problems progress can be made under these 

 conditions depends obviously on the nature of 

 the individual problem ; but, without in any way 

 detracting from the value of the Woburn work, 

 its main result lias been to emphasise the need for 



