Marcu 3, 1904] 
voted to the former subject, 102 pages to the latter, and 
14 pages to the table of contents, but there is no index. 
There are 106 plates representing the rates of incre- 
NATURE 
ment in trees and woods, mature woods of different | 
species, modes of pruning, destructive insects, methods 
of felling and transport. 
The arrangement of the matter differs from that 
usual in other manuals of forestry; the account of the 
increment in trees and woods, which occupies the first 
38 pages, being properly a part of forest mensuration, 
should come under forest management instead of under 
utilisation, and much of the latter subject as treated 
by Mouillefert is really sylvicuiture, and belongs, 
therefore, properly to vol. i. It is a pity that the 
dit 
OUR BOOK SHELF. 
The School Arithmetic: being a School Course 
adapted from “The Tutorial Arithmetic.”” By 
W. P. Workman, M.A., B.Sc. Pp. viii+495. 
(London: W. B. Clive, University Tutorial Press, 
1903.) Price 3s. 6d. 
Tuts useful volume is an excellent specimen of the 
work published by the University Tutorial Press. 
The treatment of the elementary rules calls for no 
special remark. The plan of explaining the nature of 
| fractions and proving the rules applicable to them by 
French use the term sylviculture for the whole art of | 
forestry instead of restricting the term, as we do, to 
the formation and tending of woods. The word 
““ foresterie,’? which is sometimes used by French 
foresters, if employed in the same sense as ‘ forestry ”’ 
with us, would save much confusion of terms. The 
French also have no treatise on forest protection, 
which with us, as well as with the Germans under the 
title ‘‘ Forstschutz,’’ is a recognised branch of forestry, 
and hence in Mouillefert’s book some account of 
damage by insects is given under the heading ‘ ex- 
ploitation,’’ or forest utilisation. 
Under the latter heading a full account is given of 
exhibiting in parallel columns a particular arithmetical 
example and its generalised algebraic form is to be 
commended, inasmuch as by this means the student is 
impressed with the generality of the process and 
reasoning. The diagrammatic representation (p. +116) 
of the processes of multiplication and division of frac- 
tions appeals strongly, to the understanding, and the 
| teaching value of the book is much increased by the 
the methods of formation and tending of woods of the | 
various species of trees, also of the utilisation of beech 
nuts for oil, of cork from Quercus Suber, of which a 
very complete account is given, of the cultivation of 
osiers, and of the production of truffles, to which 43 
pages are devoted. It is therefore strange that scarcely | 
anything is said about the production of resin and | 
turpentine from the maritime pine, of which there are | 
about a million acres in Gascony. 
The production of poplar wood is largely followed 
by small landowners in France, and the wood of the 
grey poplar is preferred to all others, being said to be 
one quarter more valuable than that of the black or 
white poplars. Omitting the value of the land and 
considering only the cost of formation of a grove of 
poplar trees, Mouillefert states that they pay more 
than 12 per cent. on the capital expended, or that 80 
trees per acre cost 3/. ros. to plant, and yield rr2l. at 
the end of thirty years, the hay grown under the trees 
paying for the cost of maintenance, including rates. 
The part of the boolx dealing with utilisation termin- 
ates with a short chapter on modes of felling and 
transport. 
the construction of forest working-plans, is short but 
effective, and includes nine cases of conversion from 
one system to another, and a chapter on usufruct in 
forests. 
This book, as well as vol. i. of the series, contains 
some valuable information about French forests which 
is not included in the more professional treatises on 
French forestry, and we are promised two further 
volumes on the valuation of woodlands and on arti- 
ficial plantations, so that the whole work when com- 
pleted should prove valuable for reference. 
W. R. FIsHer. 
NO. 1792, VOL. 69] 
plan adopted by the author of cautioning the pupil 
against various errors into which he may be expected 
to fall. Contracted processes in the division and 
multiplication of decimals are adequately explained and 
illustrated. The interest of the schoolboy is secured 
in the chapter on averages by examples dealing with 
the cricket performances of the leading batsmen and 
bowlers of England, and with the various athletic ‘‘ re- 
cords ’’ of the public schools. 
Every branch of the subject is illustrated by a vast 
collection of examples. The treatment of compound 
interest proceeds without the use of logarithms, but to 
us it appears that an early introduction of the elements 
of logarithms into a school course is desirable, and 
that it would present no difficulty to an ordinary pupil. 
The use of a ‘‘log book ’’ would greatly simplify 
calculations in questions relating to compound interest. 
Free-hand Lettering ; being a Treatise on Plain Letter- 
ing from the Practical Standpoint for Use in 
Engineering Schools and Colleges. By Victor T. 
Wilson, M.E. Pp. x+95; 23 full-page plates. 
(New York: John Wiley and Sons; London: Chap- 
man and Hall, 1903.) Price 1 dollar. 
Tuts book is not a mere collection of copies which the 
student is to reproduce slavishly. The author states 
the object of the volume to be “‘ to cultivate the con- 
ception that all lettering is design, that any mathe- 
matical or mechanical attempt at treatment is entirely 
impracticable in ordinary work.’? The information 
supplied and instructions given should enable the 
student to arrive at the end in view. 
Junior Country Reader. II. Talks on Country Life. 
By H. B. M. Buchanan and R. R. C. Gregory. Pp. 
viiit+t198. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 
1903.) Price 1s. 4d. 
THESE simply expressed reading lessons should prove 
| of great interest to young children in country schools. 
After reading what is here told him about the horse, 
The last part of the book, on forest management, or | 
cow, pig, and sheep, a boy should be able to give in- 
telligent assistance in the care of these animals. The 
sections on rats and the weasel family, on ferrets, on 
animals met with in the woods, and on birds, should 
go a long way to develop a real appreciation of country 
life. The illustrations are numerous and good. 
Green Mansions: a Romance of the Tropical Forest. 
By W. H. Hudson. Pp. 315. (London: Duck- 
worth and Co., 1904.) Price 6s. 
Tuis story enables the author to show his familiarity 
with the vegetation, animal life, and climatic con- 
ditions of tropical South America. Incidents are sub- 
| ordinated throughout to descriptive writing, which, 
however, will interest many readers as much as the 
thread of romance running through the book. 
