388 
indicates that an unfortunate dietary had led to the 
slow and gradual undermining of the health of all the 
members, lowering their vitality to a point which made 
the struggle hopeless. The discussion of this subject is 
painful ; but it is scarcely likely that the views put 
forward will be accepted by the survivors of this or 
other polar expeditions without very careful scrutiny. 
It must be remembered that only experience can test 
the sufficiency of any diet, and that the best theoretical 
views are open to revision in the light of new knowledge. 
The War included so many large-scale experiments on 
mal-nutrition that any one criticising Scott or his 
advisers for their views in 1909 must be careful to do so 
with respect only to the state of knowledge at that time. 
Capt. Scott was a great leader, and it may be that 
the wave of hero-worship which rose to so unprecedented 
a height when the news of his fate became known over- 
shadowed the merely human side of his character. 
Even if all that Mr. Cherry-Garrard says of the strength 
and of the weakness of his late leader stands the test 
of time, the question cannot but arise whether the time 
for such a characterisation has yet come. In the 
future it will be a valuable piece of comparative study 
to contrast one great leader with another, but it will 
never be fair to compare the searching analysis of 
Capt. Scott with the more conventional presentment 
of other leaders whose qualities have been dealt with, 
let us say, with the reticence dictated by Victorian 
standards of consideration for the feelings of surviving 
relatives. 
We think that it may be possible to combine fearless- 
ness with good taste by placing on record in some safe 
keeping for future study the most intimate personal 
criticism of explorers by those who have been most 
closely in contact with them ; and we should like to see 
all personal diaries of all the expeditions secured from 
the risk of destruction, especially from the risk of 
destruction by the writers themselves in after years, 
by deposit with a responsible institution in trust for 
posterity. Hucu Rosert MI. 
Indian Irrigation. 
Triennial Review of Irrigation in India, 1918-1921. 
Public Works Department of the Government 
of India. Pp. v+222. (Calcutta: Government 
Printing Office.) 5 rupees. 
NDIA is a land of many problems, and not the least 
difficult and perplexing is that of irrigation. The 
meteorological conditions vary there more than any- 
where else in the world, within an equivalent area. 
The country contains alike the locality (Cherrapunji) 
with the greatest recorded average annual rainfall 
(460 inches) and arid tracts where rain is practically 

NATURE 

[Marcu 24, 1923 
the general irregularity of the incidence of precipitation, 
its unequal distribution, its capricious periodicity, its 
liability to entire failure. Drought and famine are 
ugly visitants to a country, but they are only too 
familiar to the unfortunate imhabitants of the land 
of the Moguls. 
There is no need, therefore, to enter any plea or make 
any justification for irrigation works in India. Not 
merely the happiness and comfort but the very 
existence of many thousands of lives depends upon 
the provision of supplies of water by artificial means 
to the crops during the dry season. 
The volume before us contains a record of the irriga- 
tion works carried out during the triennium 1918-21 
by the Public Works Department of the Government 
of India. It also embodies an extremely interesting 
review of the inception and progress of various under- 
takings of the kind during a period of some forty years. 
The ro} million acres irrigated by Government Works 
in 1878-79 have grown to 28 million acres in 1919-20. 
Perhaps a better method of forming an idea of the 
works themselves is to speak in terms of channels 
constructed. By the year 1900-1 there were 39,142 
miles of Government channel in operation. In 1920-21 
this length had increased to 55,202 miles. Every year 
there has been an average addition of 800 miles. 
From an agricultural point of view, the triennium 
1918-21 consisted of a central prosperous year between 
two lean years. In the first year the average deficiency 
in the rainfall throughout the plains was greater than 
in any preceding year since 1877. In 1919, on the 
other hand, the precipitation for the whole season was 
5 per cent. above the normal. In the following year 
another set-back occurred, and the percentage below 
the normal ranged from 13 in the United Provinces to 
no less than 83 in Sind. Commenting on these facts 
and their relationship to the irrigation works already 
in existence, the report truly says ; “‘ But for the works, 
on millions of acres the crops would never have come to 
maturity ; on millions more, no crops at all could have 
been sown. . . . It is safe to say that even 20 years 
ago, many tracts would have suffered from widespread 
famine which, owing to the facilities now afforded for 
irrigation, passed through the triennium unscathed.” 
The review of the triennium period includes a notice 
of the great Triple Canals project in the Punjab, 
commenced in 1905 and finally completed in 1917. It 
consists of 433 miles of main canals and branches and 
3010 miles of distributaries, in connexion with which 
nearly 20,000 miles of watercourses have also been 
constructed. The total area commanded is 6250 
square miles, and it is proposed that 1,675,000 acres 
shall be irrigated annually. Another notable under- 
unknown. More troublesome than these extremes is | taking referred to is the Divi Island project in the delta 
NO. 2786, VOL. 111] 
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