304 
NATURE 
[ Aug. 17, 1871 


Domestic Botany: an Exposition of the Structure and 
Classification of Plants, and of their Uses for Food, 
Clothing, Medicine, and Manufacturing Purposes. By 
John Smith, A.L.S., Ex-Curator of the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew. (London: L. Reeve and Co., 1871.) 
THE greater part of this thick volume consists of a 
brief description of the distinguishing characters of the 
most important orders of Flowering and Flowerless 
Plants, with a longer account of the more striking species 
belonging to each order which are cultivated in or im- 
ported into this country on account of their economical 
properties. The author’s official connection with the 
Gardens at Kew gave him unusual opportunities for an 
acquaintance with plants of this class, and we do not know 
any work which contains so much useful and interesting 
information on the subject. Under the head of the Palm 
Family, for instance, we find no less than forty species 
mentioned, from which are obtained so large a proportion 
of the articles of food, dress, domestic use, and commerce, 
that supply the scanty needs of the inhabitants of tropical 
countries, cocoa-nuts, dates, oil, wax, toddy, sago, betel 
nuts, vegetable ivory, umbrellas, fans, &c. The book is, 
in fact, a repertory of information as to the history of 
articles derived from the vegetable kingdom. The work 
being evidently intended mainly for popular use, we doubt 
the wisdom of the word-coining so extensively adopted by 
the writer in structural definitions, especially as, in the pre- 
face, he refers to the deterrent influence on the study of 
botany, of the many technical terms with which other works 
onthe subject abound. The following description, for ex- 
ample, of the habits of the Arum family, will convey but 
little idea to the general reader, even if the botanist can } 
extract a definite meaning from it :—“ Palmids, phyl- 
lacorms, epiphytal ampelids, or rhizocorm herbs, generally 
of a soft texture, destitute of pubescence.” 
We wish we could speak with equal praise of the earlier 
portion of the work, the “Explanation of the Parts, Struc- 
ture, Life, Organism, and Classification of Plants.” This has 
evidently been prepared too hastily, and not subjected, as 
it should have been, to a careful revision by some one 
familiar with at least the elements of Structural Botany, 
which would have prevented the use of such barbarous terms 
as “involucree ” and “ phyllode,” or such a definition as 
that “an ovary, with its pistil, is termed a carpel.” These 
chapters by no means answer to their title of an “ Expo- 
sition of the Structure and Classification of Plants ;” a 
student trusting to them, instead of to one of the fmany 
excellent manuals already in existence, for his knowledge 
of structural botany, would be wofully misled ; and the 
author has made a grave mistake in attempting a treatise 
on this subject. This is the more to be regretted, as the 
inaccuracies in the earlier part may deter the reader from 
proceeding to the main portion of the work, which is really 
useful and trustworthy. The coloured illustrations with 
which the book is adorned are very well executed ; the 
woodcuts are on too small a scale to be of much assistance. 
Notwithstanding the valuable features of this book which 
we have pointed out, an exhaustive work on Economic 
Botany is still a desideratum in our literature, and one 
that would repay the labour of any one who possessed the 
needful information, and the power of putting that infor- 
mation into scientific and yet easily intelligible language. 
A. W. B. 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
[Zhe Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressid 
by his Correspondents, No notice is taken of anonymous 
communications. } 
Ocean Currents 
I HAVE been watching with interest for some time past the dis- 
cussions in your pages regarding Dr. Carpenter’s theory. Ihave 
also read with much pleasure in your number for July 27 Prof. 



Wyville Thomson’s excellent paper on ‘‘The Distribution of 
Temperature in the North Atlantic.” Init he justly remarks 
that ‘‘ what we expect of Dr. Carpenter before we are called 
upon to accept to the full his magnificent generalisation is a 
calculation and demonstration of the amount of the effect of the 
causes upon which he depends, acting under the special circum- 
stances.” And he further adds, that he has several times put 
the question to specialists in such physical inquiries, but they 
have always said that it was a matter of the greatest difficulty, but 
that their impression was that the effects would be infinitesimal. 
I have examined this subject with great care, and may be per- 
mitted to say that, in so far as the point at issue is concerned, 
the problem, if properly treated, is by no means difficult, but on 
the contrary is one of great simplicity. 
Taking Dr. Carpenter’s own data, I have, in regard to the 
Gibraltar Current and to his General Oceanic Circulation, de- 
termined the absolute amount of those effects on which his 
circulation depends. Taking a given quantity of water, say one 
pound, placed under the most favourable circumstances, accord- 
ing to his theory, I have determined, first, the absolute jorce of 
gravity acting on the pound of water tending to produce motion, 
and, secondly, the absolute amount of wor which gravity can 
perform upon the pound during its entire circuit. 
I can form, of course, no estimate of the amount of the work 
of the resistances to the motion of the water along its course. 
But, imperfect as our knowledge is on this point, we can never- 
theless easily satisfy ourselves that the work of the resistances 
greatly exceeds the work of gravity, and that, consequently, there 
can be no such circulation as that for which Dr. Carpenter con- 
tends. 
My results are embodied in a rather lengthy paper on the sub- 
ject, the publication of which has been delayed, owing to cir- 
cumstances over which I have had no control ; but I expect that 
it will appear in the P£é/osophical Magazine for October next. 
Edinburgh JAMES CROLL 
The August Meteors 
HAVING been engaged during the past week in observations 
on the August Meteors, I thought a few of the results might be 
interesting to some of your numerous subscribers. My regular 
observations extended from Sunday night to Friday night ; and, 
as the following table will show, the weather was, with the ex- 
ception of one night, as favourable as could reasonably be de- 
sired. From over 120 meteors mapped down (out of about 330 
seen) it is evident that the principal radiant point, or rather line, 
is aline drawn from a Persei to y Persei, and onwards towards 
mn. One bright meteor was seen on the 8th, just below 7 Persei, 
which did not move more than 2° in a second of time, and left 
a cloud behind it lasting about two seconds, A remarkable 
feature was the ouélying radiants, as they appeared to be, one of 
which was situated at or near 0 Cassiopeiz, another near the star 
c of Camelopardalis. The radiant situated between 8 Cygni 
and y Draconis is very well marked; also a radiant near y 
Cephei (where another almost stationary meteor was observed) ; 
and one just below e Pegasi, towards a Aquarii; associated ap- 
parently with the last is a radiant near the small lozenge in 
Delphinus, above a Aquilz. 
In the list below of 312 meteors observed here, 242, or about 
77 per cent. were from the Perseus radiant or radiants :-— 
Meteors seen August 1871, at York. | 

Do, from Perseus. 







| 
Date. Hours. | State of sky. | No. observed. | —_ 
Proport. 
sth | 10. o—10.10 Fine. | 6 5 "83 
6th | 10,20— 12. 0 do. | 34 28 “82 
7th | 10. o—12. o} do. 49 30 ‘61 
8th | x0. o—x2. of do. till rz 45 | 50 31 "62 
| then cloudy. 
gth | 10.30—11.30| Cloudy and hazy | 6 | 4 6 
roth | ge55—12. 5 Few clouds at 120 106 “88 
times, and very| 
| | slight haze. | | 
rrth | do. do. 47 38 "80 

Generally two watching, sometimes three, and once or twice 
but one. For the roth I had a list of twenty-six others handed me, 
observed by a friend close at hand, of which nineteen were from 
Perseus. 
20, Bootham, York, Aug. 14 J. EpMuUND CLARK 
