124 



NA TURE 



[December 2, 1909 



"Fibrous-rooted Begonia," in which the peculiar form 

 and colour of a well- flowered plant are clearly set 

 forth ; Lycastc Skinneri, Masdcvallia Harryana, and 

 Paphiopedihini (Cypripedium) Curtisii. 



It will be seen that orchids are well represented ; 

 indeed, the subjects are selected from almost every 

 class of flowering plant; even the window garden is 

 not forgotten, but, on the contrary, one of the plates 

 illustrates a window-box filled with suitable plants in 

 full flower. It can be said of only a small number 

 that they fail to rank with the best, and in these few 

 cases the original drawings were insufficientlv definite 

 in character or the plants depicted were scarcelv satis- 

 factory specimens. 



So far we have referred only to that portion of the 

 work which answers to the first half of the title, namely, 

 " Beautiful Flowers," but in the text the second half 

 of the title is justified, " How to Grow Them." The 

 authors, being well familiar with their subjects, have 

 related in pleasant, but plain, language all the details 

 of cultivation that are necessary to enable the merest 

 amateur to obtain success. It is satisfactory to note 

 that this is done without the petty gossip and 

 e.xtraneous information that mar so many modern 

 gardening books. In short, the writing, though 

 pleasantly entertaining, is serious, and its main 

 object, namely, that of imparting information, is 

 always kept in mind. Part i. is exclusively devoted 

 to the rose, which is treated at greater length than 

 most of the subjects. Carefully compiled lists of roses 

 specially suitable for particular forms of culture will 

 save the amateur a great amount of research in cata- 

 logues, which is seldom satisfactory unless the 

 cultivator has already considerable knowledge of the 

 habits of the different types. Roses are followed by 

 chapters on bulbs, which extend into part iii. Then 

 follows a long article on hardy herbaceous plants, 

 these being amongst the popular flowers of the day. 



In part vi. herbaceous plants give place to rockery 

 plants, and these to greenhouse and stove plants. In 

 succeeding parts articles are devoted to sweet peas, 

 carnations, dahlias, chrysanthemums, and all the most 

 beautiful garden flowers, until near the end we come 

 to the floral aristocrats, the orchids. There is a good 

 index, and, in addition to the coloured plates, there 

 are line drawings inserted in the text for the purpose 

 of illustrating some of the cultural processes, such as 

 budding, grafting, and other systems of propagation, 

 also potting, tying, &c. The publishers may be con- 

 gratulated on the excellent type and the general good 

 appearance of this book, which is suitable for the 

 drawing-room table. 



BRITISH CATTLE. 

 The Evolution of British Cattle and the Fashioning 

 of Breeds. By Prof. James Wilson. Pp. viii + 147. 

 (London : A'inton and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 

 7^. 6d. net. 

 'T'HE author of this book exhibits a considerable 

 ■»■ knowledge of the literature which bears upon 

 the subject of the origin and development of British 

 cattle. His references range from Cassar's Gallic war 

 to Thomson's recent book on heredity; they embrace 

 NO. 2092, VOL. Sz] 



not only husbandry in the old and agriculture in the 

 new sense, but political and social history, and such 

 details of the modern sciences of palaeontology and 

 Mendelism as are necessary for his purpose. Thus a 

 knowledge of the habits of the peoples dealt with and 

 of the circumstances affecting them at various times 

 is brought to bear upon the problem of the migration 

 of cattle and of the blending of different breeds in 

 olden days, while the evidence he has culled from 

 various writings of the seventeenth and eighteenth 

 centuries is especially noteworthy and valuable to the 

 student of heredity, inasmuch as it throws light on 

 the causes which influenced the establishment of 

 modern breeds during a period of which but little is 

 generally known of stock breeding. 



In his opening words the author asserts that it will 

 be his duty to question and sometimes to destroy 

 many fondly cherished beliefs as to the origin, history 

 and evolution of the cattle of these islands. We think 

 he has fulfilled that duty in a clear and convincing 

 manner, and not only so, but has succeeded, as he 

 hoped, in placing before his readers a sounder know- 

 ledge of the subject. 



.\fter a chapter on Bos primigenius, in which he 

 disposes of the evidence advanced to show that this 

 species has ever been represented here, he quotes the 

 work of many modern palasontologists to demonstrate 

 that Bos longifrons is the species which was present 

 in the Neolithic age, and was the original native 

 breed. It was this black breed, he says, which was 

 driven with their Celtic owners before the successive 

 invaders of Britain, and remain till this day in Scot- 

 land, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and the north of 

 England. 



He then claims that with the Romans came the 

 white cattle of Southern Europe, from which the wild 

 white cattle found at the time of the Norman invasion 

 and the present wild herds are derived. That with the 

 Anglo-Saxons came the red cattle which dominated the 

 south of England down to the eighteenth century, 

 and of which our Lincolns, Devons, Herefords, Nor- 

 folks, Suffolks, and Sussex are the representatives ; 

 while with the Norse people came the polled cattle. 



After the Norman conquest until the seventeenth 

 century he believes there was but little migration of 

 cattle about the country, and that not until later still 

 was crossing of breeds at all freely carried on. What 

 he calls the "Dutch invasion" of cattle in the seven- 

 teenth and eighteenth centuries, caused by England's 

 sympathy with the Netherlands, gave rise to the first 

 shorthorn blood, and, as at this time "landowners 

 had become business men," great impetus was then 

 given to breeding. 



He then deals in an admirable manner with the 

 production and evolution of the various breeds which 

 exist to-day; he calls to his aid Mendel's theories, and 

 shows their practical value for the elucidation of such 

 complex problems. 



Especially interesting are his chapters on the causes, 

 natural and artificial, which stimulated or checked 

 the spread of the Hereford, longhorn, shorthorn, and 

 .'\berdeen Angus breeds; on Bakewell, Charles Coll- 

 ing, Hugh Watson, and other great breeders, and how 

 they all brought their special breeds to perfection, fir>t 



