June 21, 1917] NATURE 



;29 



looking forward to a return to work in his own coun- 

 try at the conclusion of the war, and the loss of his 

 helpful comradeship is deeply f*lt by his colleagues on 

 the Survey staff. 



The death occurred at Leeds, on June 7, at fifty- 

 nine years of age, of Mr. Samuel Margerison, a well- 

 Jinown Yorkshire botanist and authority on afforesta- 

 tion. Mr. Margerison did valuable work as a member 

 of the Yorkshire Botanical Survey Committee of the 

 Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, and being an enthu- 

 siastic and skilful gardener, he was for some time a 

 prominent and active member of the North of England 

 Horticultural Society. As an expert in afforestation, 

 his advice and help were frequently sought by various 

 local authorities, and he had given expert assistance to 

 the Leeds Corporation Waterworks Committee in its 

 scheme for the afforestation of the Washburn- Valley, 

 near Otiey. At the Bradford meeting of the British 

 Association in 190 1 he read an interesting paper on 

 British sylviculture, in which he pointed out the great 

 importance of maintaining an adequate supply of 

 native timbers. He directed attention especially to the 

 fact that although the natural conditions in this country 

 are not less favourable, the comparison of the results 

 of Continental sylviculture with ours shows that our 

 management is generallv inferior, and our forests 

 much less productive. He emphasised stronglv the 

 need, in this country', of a sound and effective training 

 in scientific forestry, with adequate practical and scien- 

 tific equipment, worthy of the subject and of its im- 

 portance as a national mdustry. 



BoT.\NiSTS will learn with deep regret of the death 

 on May 29 of Dr. Sarah M. Baker at the early age 

 of twenty-nine. Dr. Baker was a .student of Univer- 

 sity College, London, from 1905. She graduated in 

 science (chemistry and botany) in 1909, and proceeded 

 to the D.Sc. in 1913. For five years she haa held the 

 position of Quain student in the department of botany, 

 and was shortly .to have been appointed to a new 

 lectureship specially created for her. The investiga- 

 tions which she completed in a relatively short period 

 of activity tend to emphasise the loss which science has 

 sustained. Her paper entitled "Quantitative Experi- 

 ments on the Effect - of Formaldehyde on Living 

 Plants" (1913) shows her mastery of biochemical tech- 

 nique, and may serve as a model of what such an 

 investigation should be. It wa? in connection with 

 this work that Dr. Baker devised the ver\' ingenious 

 automatic waterer whereby the culture-plants could be 

 raised from seed and grown on for long periods without 

 interference of any kind with the progress of the 

 experiment. This contribution was followed by re- 

 searches on osmotic phenomena, with especial refer- 

 ence to the mechanism of entry and transport of water 

 in plants. Dr. Baker was led to the assumption of 

 both hydro- and aero-permeable regions in roots, the 

 former admitting the nutrient salts, the latter vapour 

 which underwent condensation. Her preliminary- paper 

 "On the Liquid Pressure Theory of the Circulation of 

 Sap in Plants," as was to be expected, met with a 

 good deal of criticism. The full paper dealing with 

 this work was only recently completed and will, it 

 may be hoped, be published shortly. In addition to 

 ttiese, there was a series of four papers on the ecology 

 and biologv of brown seaweeds, based on field inves- 

 tigations carried out at her father's country cottage 

 at Mersea Island, at Blakeney Point, and elsewhere. 

 The drawings which illustrate some of these are fine 

 examples of line work, deserving of the highest praise. 

 It was characteristic of Dr. Baker to throw herself 

 ardently into whatsoever she undertook. Thus for 

 the purpose of a nublic lecture rerentlv delivered on 



NO. 2486, VOL. 99] 



vegetable dyes, she worked through the whole chemical 

 basis of the subject, and was not content until she had 

 discovered a number of new d>'ei by the employment 

 of mordants not previously used. At the time of her 

 death she was investigating critically the bread-making 

 value of a number of substitutes for wheaten flour. 

 Dr. Baker had many interests outside her scientific 

 work, and it is possible that the cumulative draft cm 

 her energies may have hastened her death. Her loss 

 will be felt as a personal bereavement by all her col- 

 leagues and pupHs. 



Under the title of "Thirty Years' Work of the 

 Geographical Societ\'"" Dr. J. ScottKeltie gives, in the 

 Geographical Journal for May, a charming sketch of 

 the earlier "stalwarts." scholars, and explorers who 

 have during that period contributed to the advance of 

 geographical science. He dealt in detail with the 

 most important developments during the last thirty 

 years, and he pointed out the progress made by the 

 society. The membership has increased from 3370 to 

 more than 5000; its income from 8600Z. to 13,000!.; 

 and its library from 20,000 volumes to about 66,000. The 

 want of accommodation for its members and collec- 

 tions has been met by the removal of. the headquarters 

 from Savile Row to" Lowther Lodge. On the whole 

 this instructive review marks a steady advance in the 

 popularity and influence of this great society, on which 

 the council and its officers deserve warm congratula- 

 tions. 



In Folk-lore, vol. xxviii., No. i, for March last Dr. 

 R. R. Marett, who has dene admirable work in guiding 

 the Folk-lore Societv during the inevitable difficulties 

 resulting from the war, devoted his presidential address 

 to a review of two pioneers of the society's work who 

 have recently passed away — Sir E. Tylor and Sir L. 

 IJomme. He pointed out that these two scholars, 

 working on somewhat different lines, aimed at the 

 same object, and that their work -was in a true sense 

 complementary. He contrasted the two phases of 

 thought, the ' ethnological and evolutionary schools, 

 which now occupy the field. He showed that the 

 problem of culture-contact in its varied forms is now 

 of primary importance, particularly in its bearing on 

 the origin of the folk-tale. He suggests an eirenicon 

 between the " diffusionist V and the "casualist" 

 schools, the one advocating the origin of tales from 

 a single centre, the other fixing its attention on sur- 

 vivals in custom, belief, and ritual which appear as 

 incidents in the stories. 



Miss Maud D. Hav'iland contributes to British 

 Birds for June some valuable notes on the breeding 

 habits of the dotterel {Eudromias morinelliis) on the 

 Yenisei, where she found it nesting both in swampy 

 ground, such as a snipe might choose, and in 

 more typical places, where the ground is dry and 

 stony. Her notes on the simulation of injury made by 

 the brooding birds to draw off intruders from the 

 neighbourhood of the nest are borne out by those of 

 other observers, but we believe her observations on the 

 protective character of the plumage of tWs species 

 are new. In the same issue Lieut. D. H. Meares 

 records the field-notes of his brother, the late Capt. 

 C. S. Meares, on the nesting habits of this bird in 

 Scotland. While these notes confirm those of Miss 

 Haviland, they supplement them by describing the 

 character of the- lining of the nest. 



Though we are assured that ".after the war " scien- 

 tific research is to receive substantial aid from the 

 State, there is reason to fear that this aid will be 



