96 



KNOWLEDGE. 



March, 1915. 



TRAVEL. 



On the Trail of the Opium Poppy. — By Sir Alexander 



HosiE, MA., LL.D. 2 volumes. 300 and 308 pages. 



26 illustrations. 1 map. 15 illustrations. 1 map. 



9i-in. X 6J-in. 



(George Philip & Son. Price 25/- net, two volumes.) 



Ten years or more ago the Government let it be known 

 that India was prepared to forgo her opium revenue, 

 and that it was the Chinese craving for the drug, and not 

 England's desire to force it upon China, which was re- 

 sponsible for the continuance of the traffic in Indian opium. 

 A movement was set on foot in China against the cultivation 

 of the poppy and the consumption of opium, and in 1906 a 

 very drastic Imperial decree was made. The terms of this 

 will be found in Appendix I of the book before us. The 

 British Government, by request, undertook annually to 

 diminish the export of opium from India if the Cliinese 

 Government carried out its arrangements for diminishing 

 the production and consumption of opium in China. 



In 1910 and 1911 it fell to the lot of Sir Alexander Hosie 



to investigate the extent of poppy cultivation in those 

 provinces which had previously been the chief centres of 

 opium production. The results of his mission are given in 

 Appendi.x II, but his two volumes themselves contain the 

 story of his travels in a little known and in part unexplored 

 country. It may be said at once that the account is full 

 of interesting details, from the trials of the traveller who has 

 to weigh out silver as currency, and always gets worsted 

 in the exchange, to the account of the flags set out in the 

 fields to charm away injurious insects. Sir Alexander 

 Hosie, in a previous book — " Three Years in Western 

 Cliina " — described the coccus which e.xcretes white wax 

 on the branches of an ash (Fraxinus chinensis). He now 

 records that the insect is propagated on a large leaflet privet 

 [Ligustruni lucidwn). In Yunnan, he found that there were 

 plantations of privet entirely devoted to the purpose, 

 and at the end of April the mother scales, containing the 

 minute cocci, are ready for transport to the other provinces, 

 where the ash is cultivated. 



The \-olumes are well illustrated and \\-ell worth reading. 



W. M. W. 



NOTICES. 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE.— The Proceedings of the 

 Third International Congress of Tropical Agriculture, 

 which have just been published (London : John Bale, 

 Sons & Danielsson ; 10/- net), form a substantial volume 

 of over four hundred pages. The volume is edited by the 

 Honorary Secretaries of the Congress, which, it will be 

 remembered, was held last June at the Imperial Institute. 



THE SYDNEY TREASURES.— The family collection 

 of Earl Sydney, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Victoria, will 

 be sold by auction by Messrs. Knight, Frank & Rutley, 

 early in the season, owing to the death of the Honourable 

 Robert iVIarsham-Townshend. The dispersal of these works 

 of art and the library will be the most important sale since 

 the declaration of war, and will arouse interest both in 

 England and America. 



LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL LECTURES.— Among 

 the free public lectures which will be given at the Horniman 

 Museum during JNIarch, at 3.30 on Saturday afternoons, 

 are the following : March 13th, " Serbian History and Folk- 

 lore," by Mr. A. R. Wright; March 20th, "The Folk- 

 lore of Flanders," by Mr. Edward Lovett ; and March 27th, 

 " Bruges, Past and Present," by Miss Abram. 



THE GEOLOGY OF HAVERFORDWEST.— -The Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries desire to give notice of the 

 publication of a Geological Memoir of the country around 

 Haverfordwest; price 3/6. This volume, which forms 

 Part XI of the Memoir on the South Wales Coalfield, and is 

 explanatory of the New Series One-inch Map, Sheet 228, 

 describes the eastern part of the Pembrokeshire Anthracite 

 District. 



UNIVERSITY OF LONDON APPOINTMENTS 

 BOARD. — We have received a copy of a pamphlet from 

 the University of London dealing with the work of the 

 Appointments Board. The primary aim of the Board is 

 to benefit the graduates by assisting them to secure employ- 

 ment, but it would be equally true to say that its object is 

 to assist the employer who has in it — ready to hand — a 

 selecting medium for the higher classes of employment. 



INSECT PESTS AT THE FRONT.— Under the title of 

 " The iSIinor Horrors of War," Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co. 

 are publishing a number of articles which have appeared 

 since the beginning of the war in the British Medical 

 Journal, by Dr. A. E. Shipley, the Master of Christ's College, 

 Cambridge. These articles, which are fully illustrated, 

 deal with various insect and other pests which cause disgust, 

 discomfort, and often disease amongst our troops now 

 fighting in all quarters of the globe. 



THE ROYAL INSTITUTION.— At a recent meeting of 

 the members a letter was read, from the Honourable Sir 

 Charles A. Parsons, saying that it gave him much pleasure 

 to enclose a cheque for five thousand pounds in favour of 

 the Royal Institution, which might be of some help at the 

 present time. There is no doubt that many societies are 

 feeling the pinch of war, and Sir Cliarles Parsons's example 

 is one whicli, if followed, might save much anxiety on the 

 part of officials who arc loth to see good work stopped. 



LIVINGSTONE COLLEGE.— We have received from 

 the new Principal of Livingstone College, Dr. Loftus E. 

 Wigram, a copy of the College Year Book, which shows that 

 this institution is still carrying on its valuable work. Besides 

 matters of special interest to students, we may mention 

 that the Year Book contains a number of reviews of scientific 

 books dealing with medical and hygienic literature. One 

 letter included is from an old student who went to a station 

 where his predecessors had all died quickly, owing, he found, 

 to the mosquitoes. The student set to work, and found 

 some acres of stagnant water. This he drained and turned 

 into a good garden ground, with the result that the mos- 

 quitoes disappeared, and the health of the district at once 

 improved. 



A FOLDING TRENCH HYPERSCOPE.— We are very 

 much pleased to call attention to the " Metron " folding 

 trench hyperscope, manufactured by Mr. C. Baker, of 244, 

 High Holborn, of which already a large number is being 

 employed by the British E.xpeditionary Force. This 

 apparatus has been designed to enable an observer occupy- 

 ing a trench or under cover to watch the movements of the 

 enemy without in any way exposing hhnself. Two handles 

 are provided, one on each side of the instrument, through 

 which stakes can be driven into the front of the trench, thus 

 holding the hyperscope and leaving the observer's hands 

 free to manipulate his binoculars. An important feature 

 of this hyperscope is that it folds, and is consequently very 

 compact for carrying. It is made in two models ; [a) of 

 well-seasoned three-ply wood, waterproof Government-grey 

 painted (price l\ 5s.) ; and (b) of metal similarly painted, 

 but of lighter weight (price £1 10s.). The mirrors being 

 set in metal cases are well protected ; should, however, 

 a mirror be broken, a spare one can easily be fitted by the 

 user. These hyperscopes can be made in varying lengths, 

 but the twenty-lour-inch model is recommended for ordinary 

 trench work: this folds to 25-in. x 7i-in. x |-in. The size 

 of the mirrors is 6-in. x3i-in., and, being of selected patent 

 plate, allows prism or other binoculars to be used with the 

 instrument. 



