476 



NA TURE 



[Skptembek 6, 1906 



close to the stem, the projecting stump decays, and the 

 decay affects the trunk. Where branches are not pruned 

 at ail, or not at the right time, natural pruning caused by 

 thick planting occurs, but the decay of the branches also 

 affects the trunk. Too early thinning prevents the growth 

 of clean boles with suppressed branches. All these points 

 require careful attention in forestry, or considerable de- 

 preciation in the value of the timber ensues. The Royal 

 .Agricultural Society, the Royal Agricultural College, the 

 Surveyors' Institution, and Mr. A. T. Gillanders (forester 

 to the Duke of Northumberland) sent collections of mounted 

 specimens of insects injurious to forest trees. Those of 

 Mr. Gillanders were very complete, and were classified 

 as beetles, saw-flics, moths, scale insects, aphids, and 

 diptera. 



Naturc-siiidy in Rural Schools. 



This, a new feature, was by no means the least interest- 

 ing department of this year's exhibition. It was organised 

 by the County Councils .Association, and was divided into 

 groups of exhibits from public elementary schools, 

 secondary schools, and school gardens. The counties from 

 which exhibits were sent included Cambridge, Cumber- 

 land, Durham, Derby, Essex, Leicester, Lincoln, Notting- 

 ham, Stafford, Suffolk, Sussex, and Worcester, and the 

 work sent was highly creditable to both teachers and 

 scholars. It was stated that the specimens were collected 

 and mounted by pupils of average intelligence, but the 

 excellence of many of the water-colour drawings of common 

 flowers was remarkable. The collections made by the 

 scholars included mounted specimens of local flowering 

 plants, some of them classified into hedge-row, wood, and 

 water plants, collections of tree leaves, autumn fruits, 

 fossils, common insects, snails, wireworms, &c. In the 

 secondary schools the work was, of course, more advanced, 

 and included classification into seeds, seedlings, branches, 

 flowers, fruits, and wood in the case of common trees. 

 The Staffordshire County Council exhibited collections of 

 tools, seeds, and apparatus as supplied to school gardens, 

 and a map showing that gardening classes are held in 

 seventy-nine day schools, in thirty evening schools, and 

 two grammar schools in that county. The introduction of 

 nature-study into our rural schools appears to hold out 

 great promise as a means of training and developing the 

 intelligence of country children. It should go far to 

 counteract that " dulness of the country " which is stated 

 to be one of the potent causes of migration to the towns. 

 Education of the youthful mind to the intelligent appreci- 

 ation of natural phenomena may be regarded as a most 

 important means of ensuring the future progress of agri- 

 cultural science, E. H. G. 



RL-557.4JV GEOGRAPHICAL WORKS. 

 CEV'ERAL papers and memoirs of scientific interest and 

 importance are included in publications received from 

 Russia during the past few months. The publications are 

 printed in the Russian language, and among them are four 

 volumes of the Proceedings of the Imperial Russian Geo- 

 graphical Society. 



In vol. xli., part iv., of the Proceedings of this society, 

 Mr, V. V. Markovitch contributes lengthy articles, one 

 entitled " In Search of Eternal Ice," and the other on the 

 ice-fields of the Caucasus, illustrated with beautiful photo- 

 graphs and sketches. Botanists will be interested in his 

 notes on the flora of the mountains. • Elaborate reports on 

 the subject of ground ice, by a commission appointed to study 

 the question, appear in the Proceedings, vol. xli., part ii. 

 ■\ map of European Russia is given, indicating results of 

 investigations by many observers. In vol. xl., part iv., an 

 important examination by Mr. A. I. Voieikoff of the ques- 

 tion whether the Pacific Ocean will become the chief com- 

 mercial route of Ihe terrestrial globe appears, with statistics 

 and maps. 



In vol. xli., part iii., Mr. L. Berg differs from Prince 

 P. Kropotkin's opinions on progressive desiccation of Eur- 

 Asia, maintaining that the climatic conditions of Central 

 Asia have been practically unchanged from the earliest 

 recorded times, and that geological desiccation has long 

 ceased. Mr. Berg refers to a canal called after Hammurabi 



NO. 1923, VOL. 74 



(Amraphel, King of Shinar), a passage in the " Song of 

 Songs " about the cessation of winter and stoppage of 

 rains, a plant crowning the mummy of an Egyptian 

 princess, Ouintus Curtius's account of Bactria in the time 

 of Alexander, down to the investigations of Heim, Hess, 

 Bruckner, and Russian explorers. The writer adduces his 

 experiences of the Aral region in support of his conclusions. 



In iSgO, i8y7, and 1899 Mr. N. A. Busch was com- 

 missioned by tile Imperial Russian Geographical Society to^ 

 investigate the glaciers of the western Caucasus, Kuban 

 district, and Sukhum circle. The results are recorded in 

 his report, "Glaciers of the Western Caucasus," 1905, 

 (134 pages), which is furnished with a helpful index and 

 some fine views. 



A work entitled " Materials for the Geography of the 

 Urals," by Mr. P. Krotov, describes orohydrographical 

 investigations in the southern part of the central Ural 

 range. The preface opens with a reference to Dr. Carl 

 Hiekisch's work " Das System des Urals " (Dorpat, 1882), 

 to show that knowledge of the geography of these regions 

 is meagre and superficial owing to lack of expenditure of 

 monev and exertion. It is claimed that thf norlhcrn and 



-ighi gl 



southern parts of the range are more familiar to scientific 

 explorers than the more accessible central part. In 1893 

 it was decided to make an orohydrographical survey of 

 portions of the Ekaterinburg and Krasnoufimsky districts, 

 Perm government, but the area proposed was afterwards, 

 limited. Mr. Krotoff reviews previous explorations, 

 mentioning, inter alia, the labours of Tatistsheff, Humboldt, 

 and Murchison. 



The six chapters contain : — historical sketch of previous 

 explorations ; cartographical materials and geological 

 sketch ; orographical description ; hypsometry of the western 

 slope of the Urals; hydrographical description; concluding 

 notes; "absolute heights" in the southern part of the 

 central Urals ; forty-two pages of lists of heights. Oro- 

 graphical and geological charts are given at the end on a 

 scale of five versis to the inch. 



The report of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society 

 for the year 1904 contains a vast amount of useful matter, 

 especially in the records of scientific exploration. Follow- 

 ing the official lists there are short biographies of deceased 

 members, including General P. S. Vannovsky and Admiral 

 S. O. Makaroff, medallist, constructor of the ice-breaker 

 Vermak. 



