August 5, 1922] 



NA TURE 



177 



fication, and Mr. Watkins' case must rest mainly on 

 his intermediate points. These he finds in mounds, 

 moats, tumps, churches (occupying the site of an earlier 

 mark), stones, trees, and camps, holy wells, and the 

 like. Place-names are also called in to support his 

 argument. Without entering into a detailed examina- 

 tion of his evidence, which the reader may do with the 

 aid of an ordnance map, it may be said generally that 

 in some cases the so-called sighting marks were the 

 objective of the road as in the case of a holy well or a 

 ford, and that others, such as a burial mound or an 

 encampment, owed their position to the previous 

 existence of a road. 



Poverty and its Vicious Circles. By Dr. Jamieson B. 

 Hurry. Second and Enlarged Edition. Pp. xvi-t- 

 411. (London: J. and A. Churchill, 1921.) Price 

 155. net. 

 The first edition of this detailed study of poverty was 

 published before the war. In this second and enlarged 

 edition the general plan of the work remains unaltered, 

 but the author has revised and extended the original 

 chapters and has written several new ones. Further, 

 he has viewed his subject more from the international 

 standpoint. His " vicious circles " are the various 

 elements entering into the causation and perpetuation 

 of povertv which aggravate or intensify the causes out 

 of which they grew by lowering the standard of life and 

 efficiency. Dr. Hurry describes in detail the effect 

 of such factors as defective housing, defective feeding, 

 defective clothing, defective education, defective 

 credit, unemployment, insecurity, and the like. Each 

 is considered separately, it being a part of the author's 

 theory that each factor must be diagnosed and attacked 

 in isolation ; but the interaction of the circles one 

 with another is both recognised and considered. 

 The last portion of the book deals with remedial 

 measures and gives a useful historical survey of poor 

 relief under the State and by local authorities, and of 

 the scope and objects of a number of private or semi- 

 public voluntary organisations. 



Plant Materials of Decorative Gardening : The Woody 

 Plants. By Prof. Wm. Trelease. Second Edition, 

 Revised. Pp. xliii + 177. (Urbana, 111. : The Author, 

 University of Illinois, 192 1.) 1 dollar. 



By the help of this handy little volume acareful observer, 

 who will make himself acquainted with the technical 

 terms as explained in the glossary at the end of the book, 

 may learn the name of any hardy tree, shrub, or woody 

 climber that he is likely to find cultivated in the 

 eastern United States — apart from the extreme south 

 — or in northern Europe, except on the more pretentious 

 estates, or in nurseries or botanical establishments. It 

 accounts for 1150 distinct kinds, representing 247 

 genera and 782 species. For a few hopelessly compli- 

 cated genera, such as haws, cotoneasters, and roses, 

 only the most easily recognised species have been 

 admitted. By means of a dichotomous key, divided 

 into four sections — -trees, bushes, undershrubs or bog 

 or rockery plants, and woody climbers or scramblers — 

 the name of the genus may be determined. The greater 

 part of the book is occupied by a systematic description 

 of the genera under their families, and under each 

 genus is given a key to the species. 



XO. 2753, VOL. I io] 



Common Plants. By Dr. M. Skene. (Common Things 

 Series.) Pp. 271 + 26 plates. (London: Andrew 

 Melrose, n.d.) 6s. net. 

 Dr. Macgregor Skene has produced a very readable 

 series of essays, written in thirty-three chapters around 

 different common plants, which are made the texts for 

 a popular presentation of many of the problems and 

 achievements of the modern study of plants. In 

 the opening sections the themes of plant nutrition and 

 the world's food supply are grouped around the wheat 

 plant. Other chapters treat, for the popular reader, 

 the various groups of plants, while still others are 

 concerned with the rise of a land flora and various 

 problems of the inter-relations of plants and animals, 

 water supply, reproduction, and the relations of plants 

 to man. The paper is unfortunately of poor quality, 

 but the essays are excellently informed and attractively 

 written, with lucid style and a human point of view. 



Scientific Management in the Home : Household 

 Engineering. By Mrs. Christine Frederick. (Effi- 

 ciency Books.) Pp. 527. (London : George Rout- 

 ledge and Sons, Ltd., 1920.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 



There is no place where the application of science is 

 more desirable than in the home, and none where it is 

 more commonly neglected. Mrs. Frederick, whose 

 work is already known in this country through her 

 connexion with The Ladies' Home fournal, here presents 

 the story of her success in managing her own home. 

 Science is to be found pleasantly blended with common 

 sense in the pages of this book, which is to be recom- 

 mended to the notice of private individuals as well as 

 to those who are concerned with the teaching of 

 domestic economy. 



Precis de physiologie vegetale. Par Prof. L. Maquenne. 

 (Collection Payot.) Pp. 175. (Paris : Payot et 

 Cie, 1922.) 4 frs. 



The author of this little book is a professor at the 

 Museum d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, and here 

 reproduces in simple, lucid, and attractive form the 

 substance of a course of lectures given at the Museum 

 for more than twenty years. The subjects briefly 

 treated include osmosis, colloids, germination, growth, 

 assimilation, respiration, etc. The definition of such 

 terms as osmosis and colloid are not above criticism, 

 but any one with no previous knowledge of the subject 

 should find it an attractive and, on the whole, an 

 accurate presentation of the general features of plant 

 physiology. 



Dictionary of Botanical Equivalents : French-English, 

 German-English. By Dr. E. Artschvvager and E. 

 M. Smiley. Pp. 137. (Baltimore. Md. : Williams 

 and Wilkins Co., 1921.) n.p. 



This little dictionary of botanical terms should prove 

 useful, especially for students. It is nearly all German, 

 onlv 15 pages being devoted to the French-English 

 portion. The pages are interleaved, so that additional 

 terms can be entered at any time. The explanations 

 given are not always happily chosen or accurate. Thus 

 zeitlicher Dimorphismus is rendered " polymorph}-." 



