56 



NATURE 



[July 14, 1910 



works and finishes well, so that it would appear to be 

 suitable for export ; but the annual outturn is only com- 

 puted at 1500 tons, and there is a good local demand for 

 construction work, for carriage shafts, draught poles and 

 various agricultural implements. Burma padauk must be 

 distinguished from Andaman padauk, obtained from Ptero- 

 carpus dalbergioides, which is noted for the brilliant red 

 colour of select logs. Although inferior in colour, Burma 

 padauk is much superior in strength and durability, and 

 is regularly supplied to the Ordnance Department for 

 spokes and felloes of wheels, poles, yokes, and other pur- 

 poses. Timber which does not comply with the stringent 

 requirements of the Ordnance Department is quite suitable 

 for wheel work, furniture, and interior decorations. Both 

 kinds of padauk have been imported to England and 

 .America, but various causes have miUtated against their 

 successful exploitation in this country. 



.\ forest pamphlet (No. i6) issued by the Government of 

 India is devoted to an account of experiments conducted 

 by Mr. R. S. Hole with the view of determining the best 

 season for coppice fellings of teak. The rainy season — mid- 

 .'\ugust to October — is frequently selected for felling, 

 although it might be expected that, vegetative activity 

 being then at its height, the development of coppice shoots 

 would be poor. However, the trials carried out, with 

 many precautions, indicate that the worst period for the 

 fellings is from the time, .April to August, when vegetative 

 activity commences, up to and for a short time after the 

 full development of the foliage, and that reproduction is 

 most vigorous in the months of March and September. 

 Incidentally, the author notes that good fertile seed has 

 been obtained from nine-year-old coppice shoots of teak. 



It is a coincidence that information regarding the 

 importance of trees belonging to the Dipterocarpace<e 

 should be forthcoming simultaneously from Burma and the 

 Philippines. In the Philippine Journal of Science (Botany, 

 vol_. _iv., part vi.) Mr. H. N. Whitford presents some 

 striking estimates regarding the preponderance of the 

 family in the Philippine forests, according to which 

 Dipterocarp trees may be expected to yield three-quarters 

 of the total volume of merchantable timber growing in a 

 virgin forest area computed at 30,000 square miles. He 

 directs special attention to the value of the woods known 

 locally as " lauan," yielded by species of Pentacme, Shorea, 

 and Parashorea, and " apitong," yielded by species of 

 Dipterocarpus ; the former are slightly harder but similar 

 to white pine, while the latter compare with the hard 

 pines. 



\ paper on Indian State forestry, by Mr. S. Eardley- 

 Wilmot, late Inspector-General of Forests, is published in 

 the Journal of the Society of .Arts (.April 1). He mentions 

 that the forest department has control over an area of 

 240,000 square miles — about one-fifth part of British India — 

 from which 4^ million tons of timber and iSo million tons 

 of bamboos are extracted annually. A rough demarcation 

 of the forests is indicated as follows. They range from 

 a height of 14,000 feet, where birch and firs supplv the 

 chief constituents, to the mangrove belts situated at sea- 

 level. .At an altitude of 8000 feet rhododendrons, oaks, 

 cedars, and pines flourish in different regions. Dalbcrgia 

 Sissoo and Acacia Catechu grow in the submontane forests. 

 The deciduous forests at a lower elevation supply teak, 

 s.il, ebony, and ironwood, while important evergreen 

 forests are found near the coast or further inland. 



.A number of interesting problems receiving attention at 

 the Swedish Royal Forestry Institute are detailed in the 

 Proceedings (Meddclandcn iran Statens Skogsfdrsoks- 

 aiistalt, part vi., iqog), such as the examination of the 

 native forests from an ecological standpoint, the best trees 

 to plant on heath or sw-amp land, and the improvement of 

 regeneration by the selection of seed. In connection with 

 the last problem. Dr. N. Sylven communicates the results 

 of his attempt to identify different races or types of the 

 spruce; ho distinguishes five types, according to their 

 mode of branching, of which the so-called " kamm " tvpe 

 is recomp/ended as the best seed-bearer. .An extensive 

 paper by Mr. E. Wibcck deals with the extent of the 

 beech forests in Sweden, showing that the area has de- 

 creased greatly in a period of 200 years, having been 

 reduced partly by human- agencv, by fires, for the manu- 



facture of potash, and by excessive cutting, and partly by 

 natural causes, such as the intrusion of the spruce. 



Tw'O articles by Mr. R. Thomson on the Jequi(5 Mani- 

 coba rubber tree, Manihot dichotoma, published in the 

 Indian Forester (vol. xxxvi., Nos. 1-3), contain suggestions 

 which appear to be worthy of careful consideration. This 

 species, indigenous to the State of Bahia, in Brazil, forms 

 a tree about 20 feet in height, and develops a stem 20 inches 

 in circumference. The author contends that, being much 

 smaller than the Para rubber tree, there is less production 

 of useless material, and that it could be planted more 

 closely, so that by planting 1200 specimens to the acre he 

 estimates a production of 600 lb. of rubber per acre in the 

 fifth year. It is further suggested that climatic difficulties 

 might be overcome by a system of cultivation in rough 

 sheds, such as is adopted in California for growing pine- 

 apples. 



TINCTORIAL CHEMISTRY, ANCIENT AND 

 MODERN. 



T N his recent presidential address to the Society of Dyers 

 and Colourists Prof. Meldola touched upon several 

 matters of general interest and importance. Referring to 

 the substitution of synthetical for natural dyes, which has 

 entailed great changes in the dyer's methods, he said : — 

 " Such a revolution in an industry of venerable antiquity 

 as has been effected in about half a century has, perhaps, 

 never before been witnessed in the history of applied 

 science. Scientific discovery has, it is true, called new 

 branches of industry into existence, and has thus opened 

 up new fields of human enterprise and outlets for capital 

 and labour. But in this case there has been no new 

 creation ; an ancient industry at the touch of science has 

 become transformed. 



" If it be asked to what cause or causes this rapid 

 development is due, there can be only one answer — the 

 development of the science of organic chemistry. From 

 the time of Perkin's discovery of mauve in 1S56, down to 

 the very latest patents for new dyestuffs, it has been 

 science, and nothing but science, all along the line." 



It is, of course, equally true, as Prof. Meldola has him- 

 self pointed out elsewhere, that the development of the 

 science of organic chemistry has been greatly accelerated 

 by the large amount of research work carried out in the 

 laboratories of the large German colour manufactories. 

 In regard to the general question of the interdependence 

 of science and industry, he has been one of the chief pro- 

 pagandists for the last twenty-five years, on the platform 

 and in the Press ; and on this matter he said : — " It has 

 long been familiar to students of economics — whether we 

 in this country recognise the doctrine or not — that industrial 

 development is ultimately dependent upon scientific develop- 

 ment. Fiscal considerations may have some influence in 

 promoting or retarding an industry, but primarily the 

 financial economist, as well as the political economist, is 

 dependent upon the materials supplied by productive indus- 

 try, and the production of these materials in the most 

 advantageous way and the addition of new materials to 

 the resources of civilisation is the business of scientific 

 research, and it is, therefore, scientific activity which is the 

 real and solid basis of national prosperity. The nation 

 which fails to realise this principle is bound to go under 

 in the long run in that industrial struggle wOiich is certain 

 to become keener with the progress of science and the 

 severity of competition arising therefrom." 



This primarily important matter cannot be too often 

 brought forward, but, at the same time, although we have 

 much leeway to make up before we come abreast with 

 our chief industrial competitors, there are signs that at 

 last the nation is " waking up " to realise the position. 

 The daily Press, as reflecting the average interests of the 

 public, is now paying an increasing amount of attention 

 to scientific matters. It is no doubt an easy matter to 

 be adversely critical in regard to the quality of the science 

 which is served up in our morning paper, but that is 

 easily remedied, and the all-important matter is that science 

 is fast achieving a prominent place as a current newspaper 

 topic. 



NO. 



1124, VOL. 84] 



