158 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



March 



standpoint, was of less importance than the 

 ability to swear roundly in Hindoostani, use a 

 rifle and hunting knife to advantage, and suc- 

 cessfully endure the hardships of a treacherous 

 climate. 



The book opens with a delightful description 

 of the Himalayas, and recounts in detail a trip 

 from the plains up through the foothills to the 

 snow peaks and borders of Tibet. The life of 

 these sacred mountains is set forth in such an 

 attractive way that the reader is carried along 

 with the party, and seems to live among the 

 Blue Pines, Deodars, and Spruces of the rocky 

 slopes. He is introduced to the little, lean, 

 and wiry hillmen, with their Gurkha knives 

 and copper kettles, and to their wives at work 

 in the fields, where from time to time a tiger 

 appears and carries them off to the jungle. 

 Sambur, cheetal, bears, mountain goats, and 

 tigers are followed and hunted down, and a 

 short journey into Tibet is described, where a 

 mimic clash takes place with the diminutive 

 soldiers from the holy land of L,hassa. A 

 touch of romance and excitement runs through 

 the whole. 



The author was engaged in making a forest 

 survey and maps of the mountain regions, and 

 descriptions were made as to the character and 

 distribution of the forest stand. The mer- 

 chantable trees were divided into classes ac- 

 cording to diameters, and surveys were run 

 through the forest according to the well-known 

 "strip" method. The last chapter contains 

 an outline of forestry in Germany (where the 

 author received his education ) and remarks as 

 to the urgent need of more rational forest man- 

 agement in Great Britain and her colonial pos- 

 sessions. A map is appended, showing the 

 forest cover of the regions described. 



The book contains but little relating to sci- 

 entific forestry, although it is an excellent 

 description of the life of an Indian forester, 

 and gives one a most interesting glimpse of 

 nature in this corner of the world. 



F. E. OlyMSTED. 



Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the 

 Smithsonian Institution for the year ending 

 June 30, 1901. Pp. 782. Illustrated. 



One of the functions of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, at Washington, is the diffusion of 

 knowledge in language " understanded of the 

 people ;" so that, while most of its works are 

 intended primarily for the specialist, there is 

 an exception made by the Secretary in pub- 

 lishing an Appendix to the Report of the 

 Board of Regents, which is in fact an annual 

 summary of the most interesting events of the 

 scientific year, prepared for that large body 

 of the public which does not care for profes- 

 sional memoirs, but has a general interest in 

 such matters. 



This popular volume for 1901 is before us. 

 It contains fifty articles, many of them illus- 

 trated, nearly all prepared by masters of the 

 respective subjects, telling in clear and inter- 

 esting language of the latest progress in all 

 the principal branches of knowledge. 



A short sketch of the history and the work 

 of the Smithsonian Institution begins with a 



paragraph from President Roosevelt's first 

 message to Congress, in which he calls at- 

 tention to the Institution's functions and its 

 present needs. The paper further states that 

 the Smithsonian Institution, which is com- 

 posed of the President and his Cabinet, and 

 the Vice-President and Chief Justice of the 

 United States, has a remarkable organization 

 for the administration of funds for the pro- 

 motion of science. Its activities could be still 

 further increased if it had greater means at 

 its absolute disposal ; while those who are 

 thinking of giving for some special scientific 

 object may yet find the Regents, on account 

 of the peculiarly disinterested position they 

 hold, the best counsellors in suggesting the 

 channel into which gifts for public purposes 

 might be directed, even should they not see 

 their way clear to accepting such donations 

 for the Institution itself. 



"Bodies Smaller than Atoms" is the title 

 of an interesting paper, and as we read " The 

 Laws of Nature, " " The Greatest Flying Creat- 

 ure," and "The Fire Walk Ceremony at 

 Tahiti," we are reminded of the wide range 

 of subjects included in the Report. Wireless 

 telegraphy, transatlantic telephoning, and the 

 telephonograph are discussed by experts in 

 electrical progress. Attention ought also to be 

 called to papers on utilization of the sun's 

 energy, the Bogosloff volcanoes of Alaska, 

 the Children's Room at the Smithsonian, the 

 submarine boat, a new African animal, pictures 

 by prehistoric cave-dwellers in France, auto- 

 mobile races, the terrible lizards that once 

 lived in America, and Mr. Thompson Seton's 

 paper on the National Zoological Park at 

 Washington. Articles of special interest to 

 readers of FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION are 

 ' Forest Destruction," by Gifford Pinchot and 

 C. Hart Merriam, and " Irrigation," by F. H. 

 Newell. 



The whole volume has been called "the 

 best popular scientific annual published in the 

 world." 



The Smithsonian Reports are distributed by 

 the Institution to libraries throughout the 

 world ; they may be had by purchase at cost 

 from the Superintendent of Documents, Wash- 

 ington, D. C., and may also generally be ob- 

 tained free of charge from the applicant's 

 Member of Congress. 



Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of 

 the University of California. Part II, for 

 the years 1898-1901, being a part of the 

 report of the regents of the university. 

 Pp. 409. Illustrated. State Printing Office, 

 Sacramento, 1902. 



This report epitomizes the work of the agri- 

 cultural school of the University of California 

 for three years and covers a great many sub- 

 jects of interest to ranchers of the state. The 

 largest number of papers on any one line of 

 work are devoted to the questions of soils in 

 relation to irrigation and drainage to offset the 

 injurious effects of alkali. One of the best 

 papers is that by E. W. Hilgard, head of the 

 experiment station at the university, on " Irri- 

 gation, Cultivation, and Hardpan." It abounds 



