144 



NA TURE 



[March 31, 1910 



FORESTRY.' 

 'T'HE present half-yearly issue of the Transactions of the 

 Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society contains a con- 

 siderable number of useful and interesting articles on 

 forestry and woodcraft generally. An article entitled " The 

 Duty of the State as Regards Afforestation " shows, in a 

 striking summary of the opinions expressed on the subject 

 by landowners, foresters, and men of science, that all are 

 agreed that the State should encourage extended afforesta- 

 tion. The article indicates verv clearly what the State 

 can and shouldadB^'i^'ith this object in view. 



In " Afforesfatlon and Local Taxation " Sir Kenneth 

 Mackenzie; Bart., president of the society, shows the 

 disastrous results to the local taxpayer which might follow 

 indiscriminate afforestation in large', continuous blocks on 

 land compulsorily purchased by the State. The State could 

 do a great deal to encourage afforestation bv private 

 owners by removing the burdens which at present deter 

 many from extending their plantations. In the words of 

 the author: — "There is a premium offered at present 

 against planting— as long as an owner occupies his land 

 \yith sheep he only pays rates on thraereighths of its valua- 

 tion. If he fences and plants it, he has to pay rates on 

 the full value appearing in the Valuation Roll." 



" The Sitka Spruce as a Tree for Hill Planting and 

 General Afforestation " (with plate), by Mr. Crozier, 

 Durris, is the most important article which has yet 

 appeared regarding the sylvi cultural characters and capa- 

 bilities of this important conifer. 



''Vegetable Remains from the Site of the Roman 

 Military Station at Newstead, Melrose," is an article 

 which will appeal to historians and antiquarians. Samples 

 of deposits from the pits and trenches of the Roman 

 station were examined by Mr. H. F. Tagg, of the Royal 

 Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. The numerous twigs and 

 branches examined belonged to some seven different species 

 of trees which have always been considered indigenous. 

 There vvas no evidence to show the presence in Britain, at 

 the period of the Roman occupation of this station, of 

 species of exceptional interest. 



Mr. W. Mackenzie, Forester, Novar, contributes an 

 article ^ entitled " Underplanted Larch Plantations at 

 Novar." The sylvicultural methods adopted to combat the 

 ravages of the larch canker fungus are clearly and 

 succinctly described. 



" Continental Notes — Germany," by Mr. B. Ribbentrbp, 

 with figures, gives a review of the recent svlvicultural 

 developments in that country, while Mr. A. G. Hobart- 

 Hampden deals in a similar manner with French sylvi- 

 culture. 



The society's excursion to the forests of Bavaria; which 

 took place last August, is interestingly described by Sir 

 Andrew N. .Agnew. Bart. In " Notes" and Queries" are 

 included many topics of great value to sylviculturists, and 

 the " Reviews and Notices of Books" will bring them in 

 touch with the recent literature on the subject. 



T 



WORK OF A LOCAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 

 HE value of the work accomplished by local scientific 

 societies is, perhaps, not always given adequate 

 recognition. On what may be described as the educational 

 side, such societies create and foster interest in the world 

 of nature; and out of this comes the desire to investigate 

 parts of the field of science. A report, programme, and 

 presidential address received recently from the North 

 London Natural History Society provide evidence of the 

 wfell-directed activity and progressive spirit which should 

 be characteristic of a society that desires to extend a 

 knowledge of science, and promote its progress. The 

 society is particularly to be congratulated upon its research 

 committees, which are concerned, among other matters, 

 with the flora, lepidoptera, and birds of the local district. 

 This district covers an area within twenty miles of St. 

 Paul's, and is subdivided into twelve sections for recording. 

 As instances of the valuable work which these com- 

 mittees accomplish, we mention a few points in the annual 

 report for 190S — that for iqoq not yet being available. It 

 appears that the adventitious flora of the district is spread- 



1 Trflnsa^tiorn of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society, vol. xxiii., 

 part 1. (January, ig-o). 



NO. 2109, 'VOL. 83] 



ing widely, while, as might be expected, the native flora 

 IS diminishing. Twenty species were recorded for the first 

 time in igo8, making the total of 684 species for the 

 district. Six of these were aliens, and eight were new 

 records for the outlying salt marshes of West Thurrock. 

 Six additions were made to the hst of Lepidoptera, bring- 

 ing the total up to 542. The ornithological research com- 

 mittee, which was inaugurated in 1908, records 110 

 different species of birds, of which seventy-nine were then 

 known to nest within the district. Two members of the 

 biological research committee, Messrs. L. B. Prout and 

 A. Bacot, have carried out a research on inheritance in 

 Acidalia virgularia, and a paper on the results of their 

 investigation was communicated to the Royal Society in 

 February of last year. 



It is clear, therefore, that the members are actively 

 engaged in the extension and advancement of scientific 

 knowledge. We congratulate the society upon the keen- 

 ness and energy of its members and committees, both of 

 which are worthy of emulation by other local scientific 

 societies. The society has just taken rooms in Salisbury 

 House, Finsbury Circus, for its meeting-place, hbrary, and 

 collections. The annual subscription is only five shillings 

 a year, being kept purposely low in order, to place the 

 advantages offered within the reach of everyone. It is 

 to be hoped many new and faithful observers will thus 

 be brought within the scientific field through the instru- 

 mentality of the society. Subjoined is th*e main part of 

 the presidential address delivered before the society on 

 January 11 by Mr. Louis B. Prout. 



Let us have done with the days of a nearly stationary 

 membership of about seventy, and an average attendance 

 of perhaps a score or less ; let us individually use every 

 endeavour to attract to our society all the nature-lovers 

 with whom we come into contact, whether they aspire to 

 be called "naturalists" or not; let us remember that no 

 one who lives within reach of London at all can now 

 plead the inaccessibility of our meeting rooms as an excuse 

 for holding aloof, and that, although our local researches 

 will continue to justify our title of the " North London 

 Natural History Society," yet there is nothing whatever 

 to prevent our drawing upon South London just as ex- 

 tensively as upon North London for our membership. It 

 is proverbial that nothing succeeds like success, and if 

 only the next few months witness anything like the 

 accession of new members which the new facilities mak^ 

 feasible, the future of our society should be well assured. 



I have directed attention more than once to the love of 

 facts which has characterised the early career of most of 

 those naturalists who have become the most famous for 

 their theories. The pioneers of evolution— Darwin, 

 Wallace, and Bates — were all careful and accurate recorders 

 at a time when most "mere collectors," at least irt ' 

 entomology, no more thought of labelling every specimen j 

 with locality and other details of information than the 

 philatelist of labelling every stamp with the date of pur- 

 chase and the name of the dealer from whom it was 

 obtained. The two hobbies were ver}' nearly on a par. 

 The collecting was. without reservation, an end in itself, 

 and if the entomologist had any advantage over his 

 brother collector, it was only in that he was developing 

 a somewhat more aesthetic taste, and probably — unless 

 he, too, collected solely in auction-rooms and similar 

 localities — a somewhat healthier body. Science and all 

 branches of research were equally beyond the mental 

 horizon of both ; and how could it matter when or where 

 a specimen was obtained, unless it might be from the 

 mercenary motive of knowing how to obtain more? I 

 do not say that the outlook of the average collector has 

 radically changed ; I do not even say that I wish it 

 radically to change. I have no patience with the lordly 

 being who speaks and writes disparagingly, or even con- 

 temptuously, of the " mere collector," and forgets that 

 he only theorises because it amuses him to do so, just as 

 the other only collects with like intent ; but I think most 

 have now been educated up to that point where they 

 know that there is value in facts, and I believe that the 

 majority of these are willing to " take themselves 

 seriously " to the extent of observing and recording those 

 facts ; and if there are any listening to me who have not 



