502 



NATURE 



[February 27, 1919 



common use of chemists will be one of the chief 

 features of this scheme. The step was one that was 

 urgently called for to give dignity to the pro- 

 fession of chemistry and to secure for it the 

 recognition it may justly claim from the public; it 

 was also essential if the work of British chemists 

 was to be carried on at the high level at which 

 it must be maintained to meet our Imperial 

 needs. 



If we are not mistaken, the position of British 

 chemical science is now reassuring. Gradually, 

 during- the waV, the nation lias been made aware 

 that chemists have played an all-important part, 

 both offensive and defensive; people are also more 

 or less alive to the fact that industries in which 

 the chemist is the leading spirit have been greatly 

 developed. As a consequence, the popular feeling 

 that English chemists were inferior to German 

 has disappeared. It is certain, moreover, that 

 the view put forward, notably by Prof. Carl Duis- 

 berg- -the leading mind of the great Bayer firm — 

 at the Perkin celebration in London, that his 

 countrymen inherit peculiar aptitudes which must 

 give them supremacy as chemical manufacturers, 

 has no longer a shadow of foundation. It is now 

 proved that English chemists are as capable as 

 any others; that, in fact, our fault in the past 

 has merely been that we have not given the 

 chemist his opportunity. Yet, although academic 

 and industrial interests have been brought into 

 effective co-operation, with mutual good results, 

 it is none the less clear that the approach made to 

 an appreciation of the value of scientific method 

 in industry and in the public service is by no 

 means so close that the future is assured. 

 "Science" is practically voiceless in the House 

 of Commons ; our State Departments still 

 show too little tendency to move with the times 

 and to give heed to expert advice, though there 

 are signs of change even in this particular : a 

 great work is still to be accomplished, therefon . 

 the schools, to develop a more sympathetii 

 and intelligent attitude in the governing class oi 

 ar future. 



ONIFEROl S I REES. 



Coniferou foi Profit' and. Ornament. Being 



a Concis< ! scriptioji of each Species and 

 Variety, mil < the most recently approved 

 Nomenclature, List of Synonyms, and Best 

 Methods of Cultivation. By A. I). Webster. 

 Pp. x\ 298. (London: Constable and Co., 

 Ltd., 1918.) Price _■ 1 et. 



( *ONIFERS are extensively cultivated in this 

 ^- country for the production of timber, for 

 shelter, and for ornament. I he number of sp*< " 

 employed for these purposes is very great, and 

 NO. -'574, VOL. \02\ 



their discrimination is often a difficult matter, 

 especially in the young state before they begin 

 to bear cones. Closely related varieties or 

 species may differ widely in value. This is well 

 seen in the Douglas fir, the Pacific coast form of 

 which is perhaps the most valuable conifer that 

 has been introduced, owing to the excellent quality 

 of its timber, of which an enormous volume per 

 acre can be produced in suitable soils and situa- 

 tions in a short period of years. The Rocky 

 Mountain form of this tree, which differs only 

 slightly in appearance, is practically useless in 

 this country. 



Few books point out clearly the distinctive 

 characters 1>\ which species can be identified, and 

 there is great need for a small, handy volume 

 which will supply concise botanical descriptions 

 with adequate keys, and an accurate account of 

 the natural history and uses of the conifers that 

 can be cultivated in the open air in this country. 



The present work, while handy in form, 

 is disappointing- on account of its lack of 

 botanical details, there being no clue to 

 the identification of the species, but scattered 

 remarks of an indefinite kind. The descriptive 

 part of about 200 pages is arranged alphabetically, 

 and much attention is paid to varieties and 

 sports which are of minor interest. Some rare 

 species are described at length, of which living 

 specimens are unknown in this country; for ex- 

 ample, Torreya taxifolia, Pinus clausa, etc., while 

 more important species, of which there are living 

 examples in Kew Gardens, are omitted, as Larix 

 sibirica and L. kurilensis, Pinus armandi and P. 

 leucodermis. It is doubtful if the author has ever 

 examined the beautiful example of Brewer's 

 spruce, near the pagoda at Kew, judging from 

 his remark that "this species has leaves which 

 resemble those of the Norway spruce." 



The book concludes with several short chapters, 

 dealing mainly with the cultivation, propagation, 

 uses, variations, and diseases of conifers. For 

 economic planting, Mr. Webster gives notes on 

 the species commonly used for this purpose, but 

 includes the Nootka cypress and the Atlas and 

 Lebanon cedars, which are rarely planted for 

 timber in this country, while he omits the Japanese 

 larch and Abies grandis, which are of consider- 

 able merit in some situations. Mr. Webster has 

 a high opinion of the Corsican pine for timber 

 production, and instances a plantation of thirty- 

 two years' growth in which this tree has attained 

 65 ft. in height. The chapter on diseases and 

 attacks by insects, birds, squirrels, etc., is 

 "popular," and has some curious errors of nomen- 

 clature. The insect with a wooll) covering which 

 lives on the bark of the Weymouth pine is not 

 a species of Coccus, being Chermes corticalis. 

 The woolly aphis on the larch is Chermes laricis, 

 and not Bostrichus laricis, which is the name of 

 a bark beetle. The usefulness of this book for 

 students and practical men is impaired by such 

 errors, which are calculated to throw doubt on 

 the general accuracy of the descriptive matter, 

 which, nevertheless, is readable, and contains 

 much interesting information. 



