October 5, 191 1] 



NATURE 



453 



(1) the Sierra Nevada, the chief sylvan interest of 

 which belongs to the long western slope, where occur 

 the Big Tree groves, the eastern slope being remark- 

 abl) abrupt; (2) the North Coast Ranges, a region rich 

 in individuals and species, including the Redwood and 

 many others which extend northwards into Oregon 

 and Washington ; (3) the South Coast Ranges, which 

 form an interesting area richest forestally on the 

 seaward slopes, where, among others, flourish the 

 Redwood, Douglas Fir, and Pinus ponderosa. This 

 region includes the remarkable peninsula of Monterey, 

 where the well-known Monterey cypress of our gardens 

 (Cztpressus macrocarpa) is endemic; (4) Southern 

 California, where the rainfall is deficient and the 

 arboreal growth confined to mountain valleys and 

 canons, and where, in many places, the vegetation is 

 of a purely desert character. 



Spread over these five forest provinces are the ninety- 

 four species of trees which come under the author's 

 purview. The whole essay, which is one of remark- 

 able interest, is the result, as Mr. Jepson tells us, of 

 nineteen years' travel and study in the field. The only 

 criticism we would make is that the exclusive use of 

 vernacular names renders it impossible to follow the 

 author without a continual and rather irritating refer- 

 ence to the body of the work in order to ascertain what 

 species it is to which he is alluding. Such names as 

 "Interior Live oak," "Santa Lucia fir," convey no 

 meaning to the majority of readers, and their general 

 adoption (which the author is anxious to bring about), 

 as well as the reader's convenience, would have been 

 furthered by a citation of the botanical name as well. 



The treatment of the individual species is admirable. 

 A very full synonymy is given, and a copious list of 

 references. After an adequate and not very technical 

 description of the tree, the author discusses its geo- 

 graphical distribution, its history, economic value, and 

 any other matter of interest concerning it. To the 

 Redwood and Big Tree, ten and eight pages respec- 

 tivelv are devoted, and the distribution of the latter 

 is shown by two large maps. The book is illustrated 

 by eighty-five full-page plates, many of them reproduc- 

 tions of photographs showing" the trees in their native 

 habitats, and, incidentally, characteristic bits of 

 Californian scenery. 



Mr. Jepson has the orthodox conception of a species, 

 which is decidedly refreshing after the orgy of species- 

 tnaking his compatriots of recent times have indulged 

 in As presenting an original and authoritative 

 account of a group of trees of particular interest to 

 arboriculturists in the British Isles, his book may be 

 stiongly recommended. W.J. Bean. 



IMPERIAL SURVEYING. 1 



IN response to an invitation sent by the Colonial 

 Office in March, 1909, to the Dominion, Common- 

 wealth, State, and Provincial Governments in the 

 Empire, delegates for the Commonwealth of Aus- 

 tralia and the Dominion of Canada met in London 

 in June last to discuss the proposal for establishing 

 some system of reciprocal admission for surveyors 

 between the different portions of the Empire. The 

 question had been raised originally as a resolution 

 submitted by the Government of New Zealand to the 

 Colonial Conference of 1907, at which a memorandum 

 drawn up by the council of the Surveyors' Institution 

 was discussed, and a resolution was adopted affirming 

 the desirability of reciprocity with regard to the ex- 

 amination and authorisation of land surveyors. The 

 outcome of this was that particulars of examinations 

 and other requirements with regard to the authorisa- 



I Report of a Conference on the Question of Reciprocity throughout the 

 Empire in the Examination and Authorisation of Surveyors. [Cd. 5776.] 

 (London: Stationery Office, ran.) Price ?\d. 



NO. 2188, VOL. 87] 



tion ut surveyors were ubtained from several 

 Dominions, and were coordinated and compared in 

 a second memorandum by the council of the Sur- 

 veyors' Institution, in which the desirability of a con- 

 ference between those concerned was pointed out. 



This conference recommends as a first essential the 

 lormation of a central board, which would use its 

 influence to keep up a uniform standard of examina- 

 tion, and on which the different Governments of the 

 Empire would be represented. All examination papers 

 set in any part of the Empire under any scheme of 

 reciprocity would be sent to the board, which would 

 direct attention to any questions falling below the 

 standard agreed upon, and would consider any pro- 

 posals for improving the working arrangements for 

 reciprocity. Further, a syllabus was drawn up for a 

 preliminary examination in English, arithmetic, 

 algebra, plane and solid geometry, plane trigono- 

 metry, and mensuration ; and for another of more ad- 

 vanced type to be passed after two years' field service, 

 and including practical and theoretical surveying up to 

 secondary triangulation. 



Though this may appear a slight basis on which to 

 construct a scheme of imperial reciprocity in this 

 direction, the complexity of the whole subject must 

 be remembered. In the United Kingdom the Ord- 

 nance Survey has provided an accurate topographical 

 survey of every portion, though a true cadastral 

 survey indicating all property boundaries does not yet 

 exist, and, according to the recent report of the Royal 

 Commission on the Land Transfer Acts, is not recom- 

 mended, since therein verbal description of boundaries 

 is preferred, maps being used in all cases, but only 

 lor assisting identity. Consequently there is no pro- 

 fession of highly trained surveyors having an intimate 

 knowledge and full experience of the most precise 

 methods of land and earth measurement, nor is 

 geodesv studied at the higher educational institutions 

 as is the case on the Continent. A moderate know- 

 ledge of land measurement enables the necessary 

 interpolations and additions to be made to an ordnance 

 map, and a land surveyor's duties are very largely 

 concerned with valuation. The Surveyors' Institu- 

 tion has arranged a special advanced examination in 

 land surveying, but being of no great value at home, 

 and not recognised in a colony, use is not made of it. 

 In the various colonies the conditions are wholly 

 different, for large areas remain unsurveyed, the de- 

 mand for the location of property boundaries is 

 urgent, and in many cases the surveyor has no official 

 control points to connect with, but must make his 

 own survey self-contained. It is therefore necessary 

 for the Governments of these colonies to insist upon 

 a high standard of technical efficiency in land mea- 

 surement, including an acquaintance with geodetic 

 work in all its branches. With such very different 

 conditions existing any arrangement for the free inter- 

 change of surveyors must be difficult, and the pro- 

 posals now put forward may be a first step as 

 providing a guarantee of a certain standard of effi- 

 ciency which may in some Dominions, Provinces, or 

 States require to' be supplemented to qualify for their 

 special certificates. 



In the United Kingdom at the present time there is 

 no place where higher surveying and geodesy are 

 regularly taught to those who are already acquainted 

 with the ordinary and more approximate methods, and 

 an improvement in this respect would do much to 

 enable a surveyor in this country, wishing to practise 

 in the colonies, to acquire the additional technical 

 equipment which is required by some of their regula- 

 tions. But besides the self-governing colonies there 

 are vast tracts administered by the Crown colonies, 

 ,-:nd in these administration and development are de- 



