May 24, 1877] 



NATURE 



59 



but really connected in no other way than that they are 

 all permeated by hyperoxide of iron. '• No other forma- 

 tion," Mr. Kurz writes, '' except metamorphic and vol- 

 canic ones, can boast of such a variety of species, in 

 spite of its apparent sterility, as laterite. It is this rock 

 that affects vegetation so much that the great difference 

 between the floras of IMalacca, Borneo, Sumatra, &c., 

 on the one hand, and that of Java on the other side, is 

 produced. It is also this formation which allows so many 

 Australian genera, like Melaleuca, Backca, Tristania, 

 Leucapogoti, (S:c., to spread so far to the north-west, some 

 of which, like Tristania, spread as far north as the 

 Ava frontier. If all laterite plants were to be erased 

 from a list of the plants of Pegu proper the flora would 

 be rendered very uninteresting indeed." 



The seasons of Pegu seem to be similar to those of 

 Lower Bengal ; the cold season, however, is shorter, and 

 the hot, dry, as well as the rainy seasons, are earlier by a 

 month than in Calcutta. The dry season ranges from 

 about December to April, the cold part of which termi- 

 nates usually, and sometimes, abruptly about the end of 

 February ; during this period the thermometer rarely 

 rises above 88" in the shade, sinking as low as 57° 

 and sometimes to 55° and 54' before sunrise. Heavy 

 dews prevail and fogs are plentiful in the early hours 

 of the day, the after parts of which are clear and 

 bright. During this season rain is almost unknown. 

 The hot part of the dry season comprises the months 

 of March and April, during which time, chiefly in 

 the former month, an occasional heavy thunderstorm 

 moderates the intense heat. In the early part of May 

 the regular monsoon rains, which cease during Novem- 

 ber, set in. The thermometer, during the hot season 

 rises rapidly to 95° and 100° in the shade. The nights, 

 however, are cool and refreshing. In the hottest province 

 of the country, at the height of the season, the thermo- 

 meter never registered above 74" before sunrise. Great 

 heat and dryness prevails in the open country, and on the 

 ridges, " while in the narrow valleys of the eastern slopes 

 of Yomah, and in the Martaban hills, where evergreen 

 forests skirt the streams, dew often falls so heavily, that 

 one becomes quite wet when marching in the early 

 mornings through the herbage along their bank. But 

 after an ascent of 100 or 200 feet, wc meet with the same 

 dryness again in the deciduous forests, as in the open 

 lands. It is here that we can almost every morning 

 observe a white sheet of vapour in the depths of the 

 valleys, resting on the forests, which enables us to appre- 

 c'ate clearly the role which evergreen forests play in the 

 attraction of the currents of vapour." 



The foregoing abstracts will serve to show the nature of 

 Mr. Kurz's report, a good deal of which is interesting. It 

 might, however, have been considerably condensed with- 

 out losing any of its value, indeed its value would have 

 been much enhanced. 



Whatever advantages or disadvantages Burmah may 

 present to travellers generally, to a botanist the advantage 

 nnist be very great in having specimens ready gathered, 

 and only requiring to be picked up, for we are told that 

 owing to the extreme violence of the gales which prevail 

 at the end of April and the beginning of May, the amount 

 of old trees, branches, &.Q., thrown down is often astound- 

 ing, offering an easy and fruitful harvest of specimens of 



woody plants, otherwise quite out of reach on account of 

 their height. At other seasons apes and squirrels are 

 most useful agents for procuring flowers and fruits of 

 lofty trees. Another advantage is that in the cold season 

 there is an absence of mosquitoes. Space will not allow 

 us to do more than mention the appendices which we 

 have before referred to. In the introduction to the first, 

 which is a list of Burmese trees arranged in their natural 

 orders, with brief remarks as to the quality and appear- 

 ance of the wood, &c., we are treated to some remarks 

 on the value or otherwise, of native names of plants. Mr. 

 Kurz says, " there are still very respectable botanists and 

 practical men who look upon native names for plants as 

 something absolutely reliable, some even believe that 

 native names are preferable to scientific ones, because the 

 former are permanent, and are not altered from one day to 

 another, as is the case in science." Our own experience 

 is that while a native name, is often a great help to the 

 accurate determination of the genus or species, it is, on 

 the other hand, often a delusion and a snare, for it fre- 

 quently occurs that the same name is applied indiscrimi- 

 nately to plants even of distinct natural orders. This, 

 perhaps, is not so much the case with Indian plants as 

 with plants from other countries. Mr. Kurz points out 

 the difficulty that must always present itself in India, 

 where the same plant is known in different localities by 

 different names, whereas the scientific name would be 

 identical all the world over, or if not actually identical, 

 certainly traceable. This lengthy report concludes with 

 some extracts from the author's journal of his tours. It 

 is illustrated with a sketch map of Pegu, and two plates of 

 a new genus Ahxyodendron, named in honour of Lord 

 Mayo, and one of the appendices contains a botanical des- 

 cription of this plant. 



INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON PULMONARY 

 CON^ UMPTION 



Iiifliteiuc of Climate in the Prevention and Treatment oj 

 Pulmonary Consumption. Lettsomian Lectures for 

 1876. By Charles Theodore Williams, M.A., M.D., 

 Oxon. (London ; Smith, Elder, and Co., 1877.) 

 '"T^HE fact that consumption is the great destroyer of 

 ■*- men and women in the prime of life, nearly one- 

 eighth of all the deaths which occur being due to it, 

 is more than sufficient to warrant any amount of 

 minute and patient inquiry which might result in the 

 prevention and more successful treatment of this terrible 

 disease. Dr. Williams treats the subject in its climatic 

 relations, and gives what is, in many directions, an 

 elaborate and able discussion of a large amount of fresh 

 data adduced with reference to the therapeutic action of 

 British, Mediterranean, African, Indian, Australian, sea- 

 voyage, and other climates, differing widely from each 

 other as regards temperature, humidity, elevation, and 

 exposure to sudden changes of weather. In concluding 

 the inquiry he draws some valuable conclusions as to 

 those patients who ought to winter abroad, and those on 

 the other hand who may remain at home, those who are 

 most likely to be benefited by sea-voyages, and those 

 most benefited by dry climates, and how far the tempera, 

 ture and elevation is to be taken into account. The 

 question of moist climates, whether hot or cold, is also 



