438 



NA TURE 



[March 12, 1903 



so that there is room for further extension should here- 

 after a third edition become necessary. 



The book is a very storehouse of information, and this 

 will be realised if we state that for every important, and 

 most other, species the information extends to : — 



(1) Size and appearance of tree: whether evergreen 

 or deciduous ; mode of branching. 



(2) Description of bark. 



(3) Description of wood, both sapwood and heart- 

 wood, with its colour, hardness, grain, scent, the 

 character of the annual rings, pores, medullary rays, &c. 



(4) Distribution, rate of growth, &c, of the trees. 



(5) Weight per cubic foot of timber; transverse strength. 



(6) Sylvicultural aspect of the species. 



(7) Insects injurious to the tree; and other points of 

 interest. 



An admirable addition in this new edhion are 96 

 photographs (enlarged 3J times) of timbers"; these were 

 prepared at the forest branch of Coopers Hill College 

 from a large collection of negatives, started by Mr. C. A. 

 Barber, now Superintendent of Botanical Survey, South 

 India, when instructor in botany at the college. 



Space is not available to enter upon a detailed account 

 of the contents of this monumental book, but attention 

 may be drawn to what, in our opinion, constitutes one or 

 twoshortcomings India has beendividedintoeightregions 

 for the purpose of indicating the main classes of forest 

 growth, but, unfortunately, the author decided not to 

 give a map showing these, because he thinks a map, to 

 be of any real use, would have to be of a rather un- 

 wieldy size and would be difficult to insert. With this 

 view we disagree. Considering that India comprises an 

 area of about iJ million square miles, a map indicating 

 the above-mentioned eight regions would have been exceed- 

 ingly useful. On this map, the exceedingly varying rain- 

 fall, which practically governs the distribution of the 

 forests, might have been shown in a summary manner, 

 or it might have been given on a separate map. The 

 size of these maps need not have been larger than that of 

 a double page, and they could have been inserted with 

 the greatest ease. Nor does the binding seem to us 

 sufficiently strong in the case of a book of nearly goo 

 pages, which will be taken about in camp by those who 

 are most in need of the information given in it. 



Apart from these minor matters, we may confidently 

 say that the book is of immense importance in the 

 economic development of the resources of the Indian 

 forests, and it should be, as the old edition has been, 

 the constant companion of every Indian forest officer, 

 and of others who take an interest in the subject. 



We heartily congratulate the author on the successful 

 completion of this new edition. 



Phyllobiologie, nebst Ubersicht der biologischen Blatt- 

 typen von ein und sechzig Siphonogamenfamilien. 

 Von Prof. Dr. A. Hansgirg. Pp. xiv + 486; mit 40 

 Abbild. im Text. (Leipzig : Gebr. Borntraeger,' 

 1903.) Price 10 marks. 

 Prof. Hansgirg has written a big book that may 

 have its use as a work of reference, but it certainly 

 cannot be described as possessing an interest com- 

 mensurate with its bulk. Long periods often ex- 

 tend over more than half a page, and are quite un- 

 broken save for the commas delimiting the in- 

 numerable subordinate clauses that serve to qualify or 

 define the main idea. An effort is made to classify 

 the various kinds of leaves into different biological 

 groups, and then the various types of leaves met with 

 in different natural orders are successively indicated. 

 As an example of the method, the case of the cricoid 

 leaf-form may be cited. The type is briefly described, 

 and then follows a list of plants, extending over eight 

 pages, that are grouped under it. 



NO. I 74 1, VOL. 67] 



In the concluding chapters a short summary of the 

 main results is given, and their general bearing upon 

 variation and evolution is brieflv discussed. It 

 is pointed out that closely related species often are 

 found to possess very different kinds of leaves, and 

 this fact is related to the combined interaction of 

 the environment and the inherent constitution of the 

 organism. The author seems to suggest that it may 

 be possible to construct a sort of phylogeny of these 

 adaptations, and so to refer them back to a primitive 

 leaf-form. But it may be doubted whether such specu- 

 lation can really advance matters very much. We 

 know too little of the former climates and of the 

 extent of adaptive variation these were able to evoke, 

 and the more profitable line of inquiry would seem 

 to be that which is directed towards an experimental 

 treatment of plants at the present day. This line of 

 investigation has already proved itself to be fruitful, 

 and there is reason to think that it is by no means as 

 yet worked out. 



The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. A Descriptive 

 Account of the Families, Genera, and Species In- 

 digenous to Great Britain and Ireland, their Pre- 

 paratory States, Habits, and Localities. By Charles 

 G. Barrett, F.E.S. Vol. viii. Heterocera, Geome- 

 trina. Pp. 431. (London : Lovell Reeve and Co., 

 Ltd., 1902.) 



The eighth volume of Mr. Barrett's great work on 

 the British Lepidoptera deals with upwards of 120 

 species, referred to the families Acidaliidae and Laren- 

 tida?, the latter being extended to include the genus 

 Eubolia and its allies, sometimes treated as a dis- 

 tinct family. Consequently, this volume is devoted 

 to the interesting groups of slender-bodied, broad- 

 winged moths known as " Waves," from their white 

 or yellow wings, crossed by waved dark lines; and 

 " Carpets," from their intricate and festooned 

 patterns. The great genus Eupithecia, which includes 

 the smaller and darker moths called " Pugs " by col- 

 lectors, which belongs, like the " Carpets," to the 

 Larentidae, stands over until the next volume. 



The scope of Mr. Barrett's work is indicated by the 

 title-page, and the workmanship, of which we have 

 spoken fully in our notices of previous volumes, re- 

 mains on the same level of uniform excellence. 

 The present range of each species is given very 

 fully, and this, though a subordinate point, is very 

 useful, not at the present moment, but as supplying 

 accurate data for a future comparison of the range 

 of the same species in the British Islands at different 

 periods. The works of Stephens, Stainton, Meyrick, 

 Barrett, and of subsequent writers will enable this 

 to be done with approximate accuracy whenever it 

 seems desirable to make such a comparison, which 

 will be more useful, perhaps, in the case of moths 

 than butterflies, for the history of British butterflies, 

 unfortunately, is one of increasing restriction of range 

 and increasing rarity, ending, but too often, in utter 

 extinction. Nevertheless, in the " Additions and Cor- 

 rections " (p. 42S), we read of the capture of a speci- 

 men of Polyommatus Dorylas, Hiibn., near Dover, 

 in 1902, a butterfly which, though figured as British 

 by Lewin a century ago, has never been formally 

 admitted into our lists, single specimens only being 

 met with on the south coast of England, at intervals 

 of many years. 



We should mention that there is a large-paper 

 edition of this work, illustrated by good coloured 

 plates of all the species in their various stages; but 

 at the moment of writing this is not before us. 



