FEBRUARY 1, 2917 | 
NATURE 
427 
to doubt whether the Open Court Publishing Com- | decaying trees to which careful treatment has 
pany and Mr. Rothwell have done much service 
to philosophic thought by bringing forward this — 
early thesis, or whether its republication will add 
much to the author’s very considerable reputation 
in England. 
(2) Miss Irvine’s book is curious and interest- 
ing, and many people will read it through to the 
end who will be unconvinced of its value as a 
contribution either to science or to religion. It 
records under a thin veil of fiction the experi- 
ences of a young lady who could dream what she 
called True Dreams—that is, dreams which were 
recognised as different from waking reality, but 
were regarded by the dreamer as incursions into 
some supernatural—or shall we say ‘‘astral ” ?— 
plane of existence. A work of this character has 
no clear scientific value, but it has the merit of 
stimulating inquiry and directing attention to an 
important “and little- -explored field of human ex- 
perience. 
(3) M. Etienne Giron’s essay on the sedition 
of evil follows very closely upon the model of 
its prototype. His “modern Job” is a Dutch 
descendant of the patriarch, distinguished by the 
possession of great wealth and the practice of 
every virtue. Suffering the severest bereave- 
ments and financial misfortunes, he is comforted 
‘by three friends and by his faithful servant. The 
book belongs to the literature of Christian ex- 
hortation rather than to that of philosophy. 
ARBORICULTURA L PATHOLOGY. 
Tree Wounds and Diseases: 
and Treatment, with 
Their Prevention 
a special chapter on 
Fruit Trees. By A. D. Webster. Pp. xx+215. 
(London: Williams and Bohes es 1916.) Price 
Oe 6d. net. 
REE Misunis eA Diseases” is a popular 
account of the nature and treatment of the 
ailments and injuries to which trees are liable, and 
may serve as an introduction to more scientific 
treatises like Hartig’s ‘‘Diseases of Trees” and 
Gillanders’s “ Forest Entomology.” To one branch 
of the subject, practical tree-surgery, Mr.. Webster 
‘pays more attention than these authors, who wrote 
from the sylviculturist’s point of view. The 
forester handling large masses of woodland aims 
at the retention. of only healthy and well-formed 
trees, from which sound timber will be ultimately 
harvested, and accordingly removes in his thinning 
‘operations all decaying, deformed, and injured 
trees. The arboriculturist is concerned with the 
preservation of trees for shade and ornament 
rather than for future use as timber, and is often 
‘called upon to repair decay and ward off impend- 
ing dangers from historic and ornamental trees 
jin parks and towns. Mr. Webster; as a practical 
man with considerable experience, discusses in 
three short chapters such problems as the filling 
of hollow trunks, the support of heavy branches 
by iron bands and connecting rods, the guying of 
limbs to. prevent. splitting, and the pruning of. 
diseased trees. He cites examples of: old and 
NO. 2466, VoL. 98] 
given a new lease of life, such as the elms in 
Regent’s Park, the chestnuts in Greenwich Park, 
and the Wilberforce oak in Holwood Park, Kent. 
His remarks upon the numerous injurious in- 
fluences to which trees are exposed in towns 
deserve attention, some of these not being gener- 
ally known, as the escape of gas, which often 
causes the sudden and mysterious death of 
previously healthy trees. Piling earth round the 
stem, as is sometimes done in street improve- 
ments, may also prove fatal. 
The chapters dealing with fungus and insect 
attacks are slight and sketchy, and do not con- 
tain sufficient descriptive details to render identi- 
fication easy, though some of the figures may be. 
helpful in this respect. The chapter enumerating 
the special enemies of each species of tree is very 
incomplete, and will be of little value to the 
forester or park superintendent, who must resort 
to the larger works already mentioned. This 
book, however, is useful as directing the attention 
of landowners and other non-professional readers 
to the many preventable causes which spoil the 
appearance and ultimately cause the death of much 
ornamental timber in Britain. 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Insect Enemies. By C. A. Ealand. Pp. xiii+ 
223. (London: Grant Richards, Ltd., 1916.) 
Price 6s. net. 
Mr. -Earanp has done good service in publishing 
his book on ‘insect enemies. The work is cast 
in popular form, which fact may in the eyes of 
some detract from its merits; but, as the author 
justly observes, “unless and until those who have 
no scientific training are told of the activities of 
insects in language which they can understand, 
they can -hardly be expected to be other than 
phlegmatic concerning the work of entomologists. 
The best ‘methods of dealing with these enemies 
of mankind may be revealed by the comparatively 
few economic entomologists, but the great work 
of eradication can, in many casés, only be accom- 
plished by the active co-operation of the general 
population.”” In accordance with the views here 
expressed, the insect pests of forest, orchard, 
flower and vegetable garden, farm crops, domestic 
animals, household, and warehouse are briefly 
but not inadequately dealt with, a final chapter 
being devoted to insects that are directly injurious 
to man. The treatment is naturally not exhaus- 
tive, and it may be doubted whether the remedial 
measures proposed are in all cases set forth in 
sufficient detail to be of much practical. service 
unless the directions for use are supplemented 
from other sources. An appendix gives - useful 
information as to the preparation of insecticides, 
though not as to the precise ‘method of employing 
them. A few errors have escaped the author’s 
notice; ‘‘Tvochilium apiformis” is an awkward 
collocation, and in Fig. 7 the representations of 
male and female sawfly are reversed. 
