6l2 



NATURE 



[April 28, 1892 



quantity of impurities which pour into it, and conse- 

 quently the quality of its water is steadily deteriorating. 



The Professor considers it proved by European experi- 

 ence that a certain percentage of forest land is indispens- 

 able for any civilized country, and that when the forest 

 area sinks below that percentage, through carelessness, or a 

 selfish desire to get all the advantages from the resources 

 of a country for the present generation, regardless of the 

 interests of posterity, the result can only be an impaired 

 industry and declining prosperity. He asserts that in 

 the United States nothing is being done to cultivate 

 forests, whilst vast areas, besides those which fall under 

 the axe, are being wasted by fires and by unregulated graz- 

 ing ; so that, to put it mildly, the Americans are using up 

 their forests at a much greater rate than they are re- 

 placing them, and are changing the character of their 

 streams, soil, and local climate. Emphasis is laid on the 

 fact that tree-planting is nol forest-culture, and based on 

 the experience taken from European countries, Mr. James 

 insists that only the State can insure the preservation of 

 the forests of America, and that private enterprise is 

 powerless to prevent their eventual destruction. 



His proposals to remedy matters are therefore that the 

 Federal and State Governments should remove timber 

 lands from the list of lands for sale, and after a thorough 

 examination as to what forests are of climatic and indus- 

 trial importance, should retain them under the control of 

 Government. He also advocates the establishment of a 

 School of Forestry, where men could be trained to 

 manage the extensive tracts of forest lands in the owner- 

 ship either of private individuals or of the State ; and 

 calls for further legislation, and active enforcement of 

 existing laws to protect forests from fires and browsing 

 animals. Here we have in a nutshell a proper forest 

 policy sketched out for the United States ; and it remains 

 to be seen whether there is sufficient patriotism in the 

 leading men to carry it out, or whether the great power 

 of the timber trade, which has always insisted on non- 

 interference with their business on the part of the State, 

 will still obstruct the road to progress. 



There is not space for much more than mere reference to 

 the other papers contained in the Bulletin, the first being 

 a most comprehensive report, by Colonel E. T. Ensign, 

 on the forest conditions of the Rocky Mountains, show- 

 ing the estimated area of forest still existing in each 

 county of the States of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, 

 Colorado, and New Mexico, in 1887. A coloured map of 

 the area shows the position and extent of the forest tracts. 

 This report roncludes with a most useful tabular state- 

 ment, giving the area of forest in each county and for 

 each State, as well as the character of the forest growth, 

 the uses made of the timber, the principal causes of 

 destruction of the forests, chiefly fires. Measures are 

 suggested for the adequate protection of the forest growth, 

 and any noticeable changes in the flow and volume of 

 water in streams are noted. Under this head, we find 

 that the streams have diminished in volume and their 

 flow has become more intermittent in one-quarter of the 

 ninety-one counties referred to, which altogether com- 

 prise an area of 555,081 square miles, still containing 

 83,460 square miles of forests in 1887. 



The other papers are : "The Forest Flora of the Rocky 

 Mountain Region," by G. B. Sudworth, and " On the 

 Climate of Colorado and its Effects on Trees," by G. B. 

 Parsons. The latter ascribes the barrenness of the eastern 

 slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the extremes of tem- 

 perature, and to the desiccating power of the north and 

 north-west winds, which are frequently powerful enough 

 to bark young trees by pelting them with gravel. 



The Bulletin closes with a valuable paper on " Snow 

 Slides and Avalanches," by B. E. Fernow, the present 

 Chief of the Forestry Division of the Washington Agricul- 

 itural Department. 



W. R. Fisher. 



NO. I 1 74, VOL. 45] 



NOTES. 



The following are the members of the Royal Commission 

 appointed to investigate the question of a Teaching University 

 for London : — Lord Cowper (Chairman), Lord Reay, Bishop 

 Barry, Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir William Scovell Savory, Sir 

 George Murray Humphry, Mr. George G. Ramsay, Rev. Canon 

 Browne, Mr. Henry Sidgwick, Mr. John Scott Burdon Sander- 

 son, Mr. James Anstie, Mr. Ralph Charlton Palmer, and Mr. 

 Gerald Henry Randall. No one who has devoted serious 

 attention to the subject is likely to be of opinion that the choice 

 of Commissioners is satisfactory. It shows that the Government 

 has not grasped the problem. 



The International Congress of Chemical Nomenclature at 

 Geneva has been attended by many representatives from various 

 European countries. The representatives from England are 

 Prof. H. E. Armstrong, F.R.S., Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S., 

 and Prof. W. Ramsay, F.R.S. 



Prof. A, Chauveau has been elected to the presidency of 

 the Societe de Biologic, in place of Prof. Brown- Sequard, whose 

 term has expired. The Societe de Biologic was founded by 

 Claude Bernard and a group of friends. Claude Bernard and 

 Paul Bert were Presidents before M. Brown- Sequard. 



A Committee has been formed to make preparations for the 

 erection of a monument to Prof, de Quatrefages in his native 

 village, Vallerangue (Gard). 



We regret to have to announce the death of Prof. Annibale 

 de Gasparis, Director of the Observatory at Naples, which 

 took place on the 21st of this month. Born in Bugnara, in the 

 province of Aquila, on November 9, 1819, he passed the first 

 few years of his youth in Tocco Casuria, where he studied 

 classics. Going thence to Naples in 1838 he began the study 

 of mathematics under Prof. Tucci, dealing specially with the 

 problems relating to bridges and rivers. Afterwards he de- 

 voted himself to astronomy, in which he soon gained great 

 celebrity. In 1840 he was appointed assistant at the Capo- 

 dimonte Observatory, where he became a diligent observer and 

 I an industrious calculator. His discovery of the three minor 

 i planets — Hygieia, Parthenope, and Egeria — created a great stir 

 1 in the scientific world, and secured for him the Royal Astro- 

 ! nomical Society's medal. Nominated as Director of the Obser- 

 I vatory in 1864, owing to the death of Capocci, he worked 

 incessantly for the advancement of practical astronomy, and 

 followed up his observations for the capture of small planets. 

 Eunomia, Psyche, Massilia, Themis, Ausonia, and Beatrix were 

 all discovered owing to his ever careful scrutiny. His theo- 

 retical labours included many on pure mathematics, while those 

 on astronomy related principally to the best methods of deter- 

 mining the orbits of comets. The investigations he carried on 

 from time to time were numerous, and the results appeared in 

 many periodicals, of which we may mention the Atti delta R. 

 Accademia delle Scienze Fisiche e Mathei7iatiche de Napoli and 

 the Astronomische Nachrichten. De Gasparis was naturally 

 robust, and enjoyed good health until he was attacked by the 

 maladies which killed him. His powers of work were tremen- 

 dous ; he was always making either some calculation or obser- 

 vation. Being taken ill rather suddenly, he went away to 

 recruit, but he became worse and worse, until at last he could 

 not move. The sad days of the last year of his life he spent 

 in reading the classics which he loved best, until his sight 

 failed him. 



Mr. John Hartnup, the Astronomer to the Mersey Docks 

 and Harbour Board, met with a fatal accident on the 21st while 

 performing one of his Observatory duties. It seems that he 

 was accustomed to examine occasionally the anemometers 



