Sept. 25, 1884] 



NA TURE 



5i5 



part found free in the fluid, the epithelium being studded 

 with other bacterial forms. 



Persons who have not been in the habit of examining 

 dried saliva-films will probably be surprised at the number 

 and variety of the organisms which are, more or less, 

 constantly to be found in the mouth ; and especially at 

 the number of spirilla with which the fluid is generally 

 crowded. 



The alvine discharges in cholera sometimes swarm with 

 precisely similar spiral organisms, and, indeed, as has 

 long been known, the fluid exuded into the intestines in 

 this disease is peculiarly suitable for the growth of these 

 and allied microbes. But, so far as my own experience — 

 dating from 1869 — of the microscopic examination of 

 such a fluid goes, all the microphytes ordinarily found 

 in it are likewise to be found, to a greater or less extent, 

 in the secretions of the mouth and fauces of unaffected 

 persons. And with reference to the comma-like Bacilli 

 found in cholera, to which such virulent properties have 

 been ascribed, I shall continue to regard them as identi- 

 cal in their nature with those ordinarily present in the 

 saliva until it has been clearly demonstrated that they are 

 physiologically different. 



Pathological Laboratory, Netley, September 1 



FORESTS IN CO BURG, GERMANY, AND 

 RUSSIA 



A BLUE-BOOK under the title of " Reports by Her 

 -'*- Majesty's Representatives abroad on the Cultivation 

 of Woods and Forests in the Countries in which they 

 reside," has just been published by Messrs. Harrison & 

 Sons. These Reports are of an extremely interesting 

 character, and we gladly draw attention to them, appearing 

 as they do at an opportune moment before the close of 

 the Forestry Exhibition at Edinburgh. 



The Reports come from Coburg and Gotha, Germany, 

 Norway, Russia, and Sweden, and in the form of an 

 appendix is a precis by Dr. Lyons, M.P., of the Reports 

 on Forestry of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. In each one of these Reports much valuable 

 information is given and information of a very varied 

 character. Thus in the first we are told that the forests 

 in Gotha consist of 85 per cent, of pine and 15 per cent. 

 of other wood. The principal timber-trees are pine and 

 beech, whereas the remaining sorts of wood, namely 

 Scotch fir, spruce, larch, oak, maple, ash, birch, and elm 

 are found only in small quantities or mixed with the other 

 species. The period during which the different woods 

 are gradually brought into use is such that pine forests 

 and mixed forests shall yield as large an amount as 

 possible of saleable timber, whilst in the beech woods the 

 greatest amount of wood as fuel is sought without allowing 

 the trees to attain an age at which they would no longer 

 pay the interest on the value of the soil. Pine and beech 

 wood in higher situations are, according to these prin- 

 ciples, usually cultivated and worked in cycles of one 

 hundred years, while spruce on the lower heights and 

 in the plains are worked on an eighty years' cycle. 

 The woods for protection on the high grounds are 

 subject to especial treatment, as no clear fellings take 

 place, and care is taken to leave standing groups of 

 foliage trees equally distributed over the whole surface. 

 The usual rules followed are : early felling of the trees in a 

 cycle of eighty years, leaving occasional large shelter trees, 

 and utilising the undergrowth for purposes of renewal. 

 The administration of the Domain forests in the Duchy of 

 Coburg is carried on on scientific principles, and consists 

 of regular felling at stated periods over certain areas ; 

 pine timber trees are usually cut every ninety years, while 

 oak, ash, beech, birch, &c, are not cut till after 120 

 years' growth. 



The Report on the general administration of Prussian 



State Forests treats of their organisation, expenditure, 

 and results, and points to the desirability of introduc- 

 ing others than indigenous trees into the forests. On 

 the subject of education in forestry it is stated that 

 the School of Forestry at Eberswalde completed in June 

 1880 the fiftieth year of its existence, and had at that 

 period in all nearly 1600 pupils. There is also a School 

 of Forestry at Miinden, and the half-yearly attendance at 

 both schools showed in 1878 an average of 148 pupils, 

 whereas in 1 SSo the number had increased to 210. The 

 attendance was therefore largely on the increase, and it 

 was then proposed to give voluntary education in these 

 matters to the "Jager Bataillonen" of the army. This 

 plan has, according to latest accounts, been attended with 

 so much success that the education has become obligatory, 

 and forms a regular portion of their service. 



From Russia a very elaborate Report treats, amongst 

 other things, of the various kinds of trees found in Russia, 

 with notes on their distribution, and some interesting facts 

 on the consumption of wood and the uses to which it is 

 put, showing that house and ship building consume a very 

 large proportion, and that the minor industries when put 

 together form a not unimportant total. After showing the 

 extensive destruction of forests that has been going on in 

 different parts of Russia for some years past, the Report 

 considers the question of plantations along railways, the 

 object of which is to protect the track from snowdrifts, 

 and a list of the best trees and shrubs for this purpose is 

 given. ( n the subject of tree-planting on the steppes of 

 South Russia, it is stated that Count Kisseleff, when 

 travelling through several provinces in 1S40 found, much 

 to his surprise, amongst the German colonists not only 

 good kitchen gardens but also flourishing plantations of 

 forest trees. The colonists had been obliged on every 

 plot of land to plant a certain number of trees. The 

 first experiences, however, were so severe that many of 

 the colonists preferred to return to Germany ; those that 

 remained were forced to plant their allotments with trees 

 which, with infinite trouble, they succeeded in doing, and 

 these plantations are now a great ornament to the steppes, 

 and from a climatic as well as an agricultural point of 

 view have been of great importance to the colonists, and 

 have laid the foundation of the planting which is now 

 carried out on the steppes in a scientific manner. A 

 forestry school was established, but closed in 1866, and 

 the allowances for planting which had been granted were 

 reduced to a minimum. Since that, however, matters 

 have been put on a more satisfactory footing, and planting 

 is conducted in a systematic manner. 



STONE HATCHETS IN CHINA 

 T ITTLE has yet been done to illustrate the Stone Age 

 ■*— ' in China, and this is very likely to be true for some 

 time to come from the fact that the people of the country 

 worked in metals four thousand years ago. 



To begin with the Han dynasty, B.C. 206 to A.D. 220, 

 one chief source of revenue was iron in those days, and 

 Shansi had grown rich and powerful because of her iron 

 foundries. The correct Confucianists objected to the 

 spirit of gain-seeking which they saw showing itself in 

 the expansion of trade. In the reign of Chauti, B.C. 80, a 

 book was written on the salt and iron duties, which was a 

 record of the views then maintained by the purists of the 

 Confucian school in contrast with those of the political 

 economists of that day. The advantages of the encou- 

 ragement of trade were detailed in full, and the sympathy 

 of the modern reader goes with the economists, who saw 

 that the strength and prosperity of the country must be 

 increased by developing her resources. The country was 

 then old, and the stone hatchet period must be sought 

 much earlier. The same state of things existed in the 

 time of Kwan chung, B.C. 700. Living before Confucius, 



