Nov. 12, 1885] 



NA TURE 



27 



cataclysm is the influence of natural selection to be 

 sought, but in forest and in field, in river, lake, and sea, 

 where all may seem most orderly and elocjuent of 

 peace. 



But although we are thus unable to commend Mr. 

 Dixon's philosophical views on topics connected with 

 natural history, we should be sorry to take leave of his 

 work without explicitly stating what has already been im- 

 plied — namely, that his facts are better than his theories. 

 On this account we consider that his essay well repays 

 perusal, and therefore recommend it to the notice of 

 zoologists. George J. Romanes 



FORESTRY IN POLAND 



Forests and Forestry in Poland, Lithuania, the Ukraine, 

 and the Ealtic Provinces of Russia. With Notices of 

 the Export of Timber from Memel, Dantsig, and Riga. 

 Compiled by John Croumbie Brown, LL.D., iS:c. 

 (Edinburgh ; Oliver and Boyd. London : Simpkin, 

 IVIarshall, and Co., and William Rider and Son, 

 1885.) 



THIS is another contribution of Dr. Brown's to the 

 subject of forestry and to the furtherance of the 

 formation of the Museum and School of Forestry in Edin- 

 burgh, which, it was thought, might be the outcome of the 

 Forestry Exhibition held in the Scotch capital last year. 

 The consideration of the establishment of a forest school 

 has since occupied a wider range of thought, consequent 

 upon the action of Sir John Lubbock in the House of 

 Commons, and in connection with this Dr. Brown's latest 

 volume will probably be of some interest in showing 

 what is effected in forest matters in countries somewhat 

 beyond the track of the ordinary English traveller, not- 

 withstanding that Dr. Brown has given us similar books 

 to the present on the forests of Norway, Northern Russia, 

 the Ural Mountains, &c. 



The present book commences with a very readable 

 comparison of the facilities of travelling in Poland, 

 Lithuania, Courland, Estonia, and Livonia some forty 

 years since and at the present time. 



In the first chapter the character of the country along 

 the railway for some 200 miles from St. Petersburg to- 

 wards Poland is described as a dead level of marshes 

 and bogs ; such dry land as there is being to some extent 

 covered with trees probably of no great age, " appar- 

 ently," Dr. Brown says, " the scraggy representatives of 

 extensive forests of a former day." Nowhere are such 

 forests as may be seen in travelling in the Governments 

 of Olonetz and Archangel in Northern Russia, and of 

 Moscow, Orel, and others in Central Russia. 



Entering Poland at Kovna, about 200 miles from Duns- 

 burg, and advancing through the eastern portion of that 

 country, Dr. Brown says the traveller remarks that agri- 

 culture appears to be carried on with a more scientific 

 character than in the lands through which he has been 

 passing. Agriculture seems also to be more remunerative ; 

 the crops are thicker. The fields are sown with wheat, 

 whereas to the north of Kovna barley, oats, and flax alone 

 are cultivated. .All the more valuable cereals seem to 

 flourish in Poland, and in passing through this district 

 there is produced an impression that the soil is more 



productive than it is further to the north ; that the climate 

 must be more equable ; and the superficial aspect of the 

 land being more undulating, and at the same time more 

 thickly wooded ; that as an agricultural district it must 

 be at least 50 per cent, superior to the Governments of 

 St. Petersburg and of Pskoff. In Poland both wheat and 

 wool are raised for exportation. Large crops of potatoes 

 are grown for the production of spirits by distillation, and 

 beetroot for the manufacture of sugar ; and wood for 

 building purposes is exported largely. The Scotch fir 

 {Piniis sylvestris) and the oak {Quercus Robur) are of very 

 superior quality. 



The trees in this district are described as being different 

 in character from those of the region traversed in coming 

 hither. In the earlier stages of the journey they con- 

 sisted almost exclusively of firs, birches, and willows, 

 while around Berdicheff in Poland the woods are com- 

 posed in a great measure of oaks, elms, and chestnuts. 



Dr. Brown's second chapter is devoted to forest ex- 

 ploitation, and the third chapter to the important sub- 

 jects of area, distribution, management, and produce of 

 forests. The information under these heads is, however, 

 to some extent technical and statistical. Some interesting 

 facts are cjuoted regarding what may be called bye-pro- 

 ducts of the forest, such, for instance, as honey, which is 

 collected by the bees largely from the flowers of the lime- 

 tree, as well as from the thyme, hyssop, and buck- 

 wheat. 



Regarding the schools of forestry in Poland, the most 

 important arrangements for the study of forest science 

 and economy by forest officials are at Novoi Alexandria. 

 Of these arrangements details are given, from which it 

 seems that the institute is ranked as a college of the first 

 class with two sections — one devoted to the study of rural 

 economy and agriculture, the other to the study of forest 

 science and forestry, with a farm, forest, and an extensive 

 domain attached to it, the whole being placed under the 

 Minister of Public Instruction at Warsaw. The staff of 

 officials includes a director, inspector, five professors, eight 

 tutors and three teachers, a laboratory superintendent, a 

 mechanic, foreman of the workshop, land steward or 

 manager of the estate, gardener and assistant, surgeon, 

 secretary, book-keeper, and a superintendent of buildings. 

 No professor can hold two chairs, and any of them after 

 twenty-five years may be again and again reappointed for 

 successive terms of five years each. A Board of Manage- 

 ment, consisting of the director, inspector, and two pro- 

 fessors, has the charge of expenditure to the amount of 

 300 roubles, to be sanctioned by the director ; the ex- 

 penditure of sums between 1000 and 5000 roubles requires 

 the sanction of the Council ; and the expenditure of sums 

 above this amount that of the Ministry. The course of 

 instruction embraces a very wide range of subjects. The 

 instruction is given in the Russian language. Each pro- 

 fessor and tutor is required to give six lectures a week, 

 and teachers to spend twelve hours a week in class 

 duties. 



In the second part of Dr. Brown's book, which is 

 devoted to Lithuania, the chapters are apportioned to 

 considerations of the people, the aspects of the country, 

 forests of the Dnieper, while Parts III., IV., and V. are 

 respectively given up to the Ukraine, the timber exports 

 of the Baltic, and the Baltic provinces of Russia. 



