64 



NATURE 



[July 15, 1909 



present demands, leaving out of consideration tlie in- 

 creasing- consumption, whicli will no doubt continue, 

 the author points out that it would require 3,000,000 

 acres of conifer and other woodlands, or an annual cut 

 of 50,000 acres of timber worked on a sixty years' 

 rotation. Contrary to opinions held in other quarters. 

 Dr. Nisbet anticipates the decrease in the supply, to 

 this country at least, of pitwood. .At present large 

 supplies come from Bordeaux, but signs are not 

 lacking that the quantity of suitable timber is decreas- 

 ing, while the French collieries themselyes show- 

 increasing demands. It would be a serious blow to 

 all our industries dependent on coal should the supply 

 of pitwood fail, and in any case the price is likely to 

 increase, which will, other things remaining the same, 

 raise the price of coal. 



Another very important question to which the 

 author directs attention is the wood-pulp industry. 

 At the present time the United States dominate the 

 paper market of the world, but there is an increasing 

 shortage of suitable timber for the making of paper- 

 pulp, which is, therefore, naturally increasing in price, 

 and the recent large rise in the price of paper is due 

 to the growing shortage in the supply of spruce. Since 

 1904, the cost of mechanical wood-pulp in this country 

 has increased from 85*. a ton to i20j>., while in 

 America during the past ten years the price has 

 increased threefold. The demand for pitwood and 

 wood-pulp is bound to continue ; in other words, there 

 is a sure market for such produce, and the author, 

 who is a widely recognised authority on such matters, 

 points out that our waste lands and poor pastures are 

 to a very large extent capable of producing conifers 

 and soft-wood crops which could be established at com- 

 paratively little cost, and would yield good returns to 

 the owner, and at the same time supply pit-wood for 

 our mining industries and therefore indirectly benefit 

 all industries dependent upon coal; and, lastly, with a 

 sufficient supply of raw material for the making of 

 paper-pulp a new industry would be created in this 

 country. 



There are altogether eleven chapters in the book, 

 with an index at the end. Some very fine illustrations 

 are also included. The first two chapters are mainly 

 taken up with historical matters, which provide 

 extremely interesting reading. The next two chapters 

 deal with the sylvicultural characteristics of the oak 

 and beech. In chapter v. the remaining hardwoods 

 are considered, while the soft \voods, such as alder, 

 birch, lime, and poplars, are dealt with in chapter vi. 

 Coniferous plantations of pines, firs, and larch are 

 treated in chapter vii. Chapter viii. is more arbori- 

 cultural, as it deals with hedges and hedgerow trees. 

 Chapter ix. is occupied with the consideration of high- 

 woods, copses, and coppicewoods, while the last two 

 chapters, viz. x. and xi., are devoted to woodlands, 

 gome and sport, and the improvement of British 

 forestry respectively. 



The book is full of sound and trustworthy informa- 

 tion. Its price is moderate, and it deserves a hearty 

 reception from all those interested, directly or in- 

 directly, in our forests and woodlands. 



(2) This volume dealing with the form of trees is 

 the final one of its series. The volume, like the 

 NO. 2072, \OL. 81] 



previous one, has been seen through the press by Dr. 

 Gioom, who informs us in the preface that he has 

 reduced changes from the original to a minimum. 

 The few alterations and additions which were found 

 necessary have been indicated br enclosure within 

 square brackets. Part i. deals in a general way with 

 the habit or form of trees, and, in addition to the 

 te.xt, the form or habit of the tree is indicated in 

 many instances by illustrations, while the form of the 

 branch-system is also indicated diagrammatically. A 

 series of Mr. Henry Irving's well-known photographs 

 illustrating the outward appearance of the bark has 

 been included. 



In part ii. the trees are detailed according to their 

 form and other external appearances. The system of 

 tabulation adopted is similar to that employed in the 

 previous volumes. -At the end we have an appendix 

 which contains a classification of trees and shrubs 

 according 10 their seedlings, and here we have many 

 excellent drawings by Miss E. Dale from actual 

 seedlings, the scale of magnification or reduction 

 being indicated in each case. No doubt this appendix, 

 as Dr. Groom points out, is not so complete as thf 

 author evidently intended to make it, yet it is, in- 

 cluding the drawings, valuable so far as it goes, and 

 is well worthy of careful study. 



Taking the whole work as it now stands, we have 

 five volumes which deal respectively with buds, leaves, 

 flowers, fruits, and form, and it will be admitted on 

 all hands that the late Prof. Marshall Ward has left 

 behind a monumental work which will long be con- 

 sidered a standard on trees. 



NEW BOOKS ON ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 



(i) Modern Organic Chemistry. By Dr. C. A. Keane. 

 Pp. xiv+503. (London : The Walter Scott Publish- 

 ing Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 6s. 



(2) Practical Organic Chemistry. By Dr. J. J. Sud- 

 borough and T. C. James. Pp. xviii + 378. 

 (London : Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1909. | Price 55. 

 net. 



(3) The Elements of Organic Chemistry. By E. I. 

 Lewis. Pp. viii + 224. (Cambridge : University 

 Tutorial Press, Ltd., 1909.) Price 2S. 6d. 



(4) Abliandluiig iiber die Glycate oder Zwei atomige 

 Alkohole. By Adolf Wurtz. Pp. 96. Ostwald's 

 Klassiker, No. 170. (Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 

 1909.) 



(l) ' I 'O anyone possessing- a sound elementary 

 -L knowledge of organic chemistry we can 

 strongly recommend Dr. Keane's book. It is not a 

 text-book, for there is no systematic arrangement 

 of the materials, and the properties of individual 

 substances and the relations of different groups 

 are not brought into relief. If, for example, 

 the student wishes to learn something about 

 ordinary phenol, he will find bits of scattered 

 information in four difTerent places. Systematic 

 instruction is obviously not the object of the book. 

 But although the treatment is unconventional, and 

 frequent digressions are made into regions not usually 

 embraced by organic text-books, this very fact rather 

 enhances than detracts from the interest of the 



