\S 



NATURE 



[July 14, 1910 



is without doubt an enthusiast on the subject, and 

 something of a poet as well, but it is unfortunate 

 that poetical descriptions and Latin names of plants 

 are but ill-assorted companions, and the frequency 

 of the necessary names detracts considerably from the 

 purely aesthetic pleasure of perusing the volume. 



The Alps, with their f^ora, are described at the 

 different seasons of the year, and the beauties of each 

 are duly eulogised ; to our thinking, however, the 

 concluding chapters on the abuse and protection of 

 alpines, and on some gardens in the Alps, are the 

 most worthy portions of the volume. In the former 

 chapter the good work done by the "Swiss League for 

 the Protection of the Natural Beauties of the Alps " 

 receives well-deserved commendation, for it is largely 

 "owing to its efforts that much wanton destruction of 

 alpine plants by the thoughtless tourist and so-called 

 lover of plants is gradually being stopped. In the 

 final chapter the Thomasia gardens, near Bex, Ram- 

 bertia, at the summit of the Rochers de Na}'e, and 

 Linnsea, at Bourg St. Pierre, are described. 



The author wonders why we in England have not 

 attempted to create alpine pastures ; he seems to forget 

 the peculiar beauty of English pasture as it is with 

 its buttercups, cowslips, and orchis, daisies and 

 red sorrel. Very possibly he might find that English 

 grasses ere long would hold the field where once his 

 less resisting alpines were planted. On laying down 

 this book we cannot but feel that Mr. Flemwell is 

 more at home with the brush than with the pen, and 

 that in writing a book on alpine flowers and gardens 

 he would have produced a more useful volume had 

 his fancies been more restrained. 



(2) This work is an interesting contrast to the pre- 

 ceding, and affords an example of the present limita- 

 tions of the art of colour photography. In a few 

 cases, as, for instance, the plates of Trifolium alpinum 

 (plate xi.) and Saxifraga aizoides (plate xx.), the re- 

 sults are good, but in many of the others the green 

 of the leaves or of the background has come out badly. 

 Blue and violet flowers are perhaps the least success- 

 ful ; it may be that the original photographs have 

 suffered considerably in reproduction, but from the 

 examples before us we cannot entirely agree with the 

 author that "the pictures are true portraits of the 

 flowers 'at home.'" A page or so of descriptive text 

 accompanies each illustration, and there, is a general 

 introduction to the volume occupying sixteen pages 

 which in some places needs textual revision ; for in- 

 stance, we do not imagine that the author means to 

 suggest that Baedeker or Bradshaw is either an 

 efficient or an inefficient plant press. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



A Manual of Practical Farming. By John McLennan. 

 Pp. xi + 298. (New York: The Macmillan Com- 

 pany; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1910.) 

 Price 6s. 6d. net. 



The number of books dealing with special branches 

 of science applied to agriculture is great and is 

 steadily increasing ; we have books on agricultural 

 chemistry, botany and entomology, on the soil, on 



NO. 2124, VOL. 84] 



fertilisers and feeding-stuffs; there are also a number 

 of large treatises and encyclopEedias on agriculture. 

 But only few writers have attempted to produce a 

 small, handy book on practical agriculture dealing 

 with the subject as a whole; the majority have been 

 deterred by the difficulty of reducing so wide and 

 coinjilex a subject to the necessary small dimensions. 



Mr. McLennan has essayed the task that many have 

 avoided. His aim has been to give the farmer useful 

 practical instruction, and also to set forth "the results 

 of scientific research as far as known and as far as 

 they square with practical experience." In the first 

 object he will probably be found to have succeeded ; 

 he clearly knows the men for whom he is writing, 

 and furnishes facts and illustrations that will be useful 

 and will also show what has been accomplished by 

 competent workers. The average American farmer 

 does not yet get all he might out of his land. To 

 some e.Ktent the untrained amateur is a factor in the 

 case, as he is beginning to be in England, and our 

 author has something to say about the would-be 

 poultry farmer who came out from the city without 

 anv knowledge, but "full of literature on the subject, 

 built elaborate houses, runs, brooders, and incubators, 

 purchased high-priced eggs and costly fowls. He 

 could figure out a comfortable living for himself and 

 family, with freedom from city cares. He usually 

 remained two years; the feed bills exceeded the re- 

 ceipts for eggs; the roup got his hens, and lice got 

 his chickens; his enthusiasm waned, and he went 

 back to his counter." 



In his second object — the presentation of the scien- 

 tific aspects of agriculture — our author is less success- 

 ful. He shocks us on the very first page by saying 

 that "the soil and the subsoil are primarily composed 

 of molecules; that is, minute grains of rock of varying" 

 size and forms. These are simply a result of the 

 action of the, elements, such as frost, rain, wind, and 

 heat, in breaking down and disintegrating the surface 

 rock." This is a typical example of the "science" set 

 out for the reader. If the author could persuade some 

 scientific friend to read through the book and make 

 the necessary alterations for the second edition its 

 value would be much enhanced. 



Leitfadcn der Mincralogie. B}' Prof. Julius Ruska. 



Pp. viii-i-144. (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer, 1910.) 



Price 2 marks. 

 This "Guide to Mineralogy" is intended for the 

 use of younger boys in German schools who have 

 not yet received instruction in mathematics, physics, 

 and chemistry. .Although it is customary to defer 

 the study of mineralogy until after the latter subjects 

 have been started, it is the author's belief that it is a 

 subject that of itself can be made intelligible and 

 interesting to younger boys. After a brief introduc- 

 tion of four pages, in which hardness and specific 

 gravity are dealt with, he plunges into the subject, 

 explaining such terms and principles as are necessary 

 when occasion arises. The order in which the more 

 common minerals are described follows the usual 

 classification into elements, sulphides, oxides, car- 

 bonates, &c. Commencing with sulphur, an oppor- 

 tunity is given to explain some of the principles of 

 crystallography in connection with the rhombic system 

 of crystals; and under the sulphides, galena, zinc- 

 blende, and iron-pyrites, the three important classes 

 of the cubic system are described. .\ large amount of 

 information is given in a very concentrated form, and 

 possibly such an essence of mineralogy might not 

 agree with quite young boys. 



A striking feature of the book is its wealth of illus- 

 trations. Besides the sixtv-nine figures on the coloured 



