REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 
The Story of Our Trees. By Margaret M. Gregson, B.A. University 
Press, Cambridge. Pp. xii. + 160, 2s. 6d. This is the third part of the 
Cambridge Nature Study Series, edited by Mr. Hugh Richardson, and 
deals in a simple and ‘practical manner with the more important and 
interesting problems of tree life. The book is admirably suited for teachers 
giving nature study lessons, who will find here many useful hints.on 
observation, experiment, and practical work both in and out of doors. 
The chapters are arranged as weekly lessons extending from the first 
week in October to the third week in June, and in each case details are 
given of materials required, practical work and home work. There are 
also four appendices giving lists of reference books, diagrams and lantern 
slides, material and revision questions. The seventy-four illustrations 
are mainly from familiar figures and are helpful. The figures of catkin . 
flowers are in some cases very diagrammatic. These are puzzling structures 
to study for older students, and evidently the author has not always 
succeeded in interpreting them ‘correctly. 
Forestry in New Ensland. By R. C. Hawley and A. F. Hawes. Pp. xv. 
+ 479. Chapman and Hall. 15s. net. The American is evidently awaken- 
ing to the seriousness of the disappearance of old forests, and one of the 
objects of this book is to help on the propaganda of the State departments. 
Intended primarily for New England students, a much wider field of 
usefulness has been present in the minds of the authors. Throughout 
the language is free from unnecessary technicalities, and can be followed 
by the landowner and general reader with interest. The first part serves 
as a general text-book of forestry, the second deals especially with practical 
forestry in New England. The characteristics of the important trees are 
given and the animal and plant pests infecting them, also the cause and 
effect of forest fires. Interesting chapters deal with the original forests 
and also present forest conditions. The four tree regions are considered 
in detail, viz., spruce, northern hardwoods, white pine, and sprout hard- 
woods, and at the end of each are short summaries indicating the general 
conditions and economic prospects. The progress of forestry in the six 
states is dealt with and indicates the great interest taken in forestry 
problems. Two folding maps show the four forest regions and the location 
of railways with respect to them, and there are also many photographic 
i!lustrations. 
Identification of the Economie Woods of the United States. By 
S. J. Record. Chapman and Hall, 1912. 5s. 6d., pp. iv. + 117. The 
identification of woods by microscopic characters has often been 
attempted, but not always with satisfactory results. !n this respect the 
practical man, with his long experience and ill-defined methods, is a 
surer guide in matters of identification than the laboratory man with 
his microscope. It is well, nevertheless, to give close attention to micro- 
scopic structures, and a study of them is a valuable aid to our knowledge 
of timber. Mr. Record’s book is a useful guide to the study and identi- 
fication of American woods, many of which possess distinctive micro- 
scopic characters. Others, however, are more elusive, and the author 
has occasionally to admit that ‘the microscopic features so far as 
recognized are of little assistance.’ Microscopic characters are therefore 
necessary, and in the ‘ Key,’ with which the book concludes, both are 
used for purposes of identification. However, along with practical 
experience in handling woods, students will find this book very useful 
as a laboratory guide. It is illustrated with thirty-one excellent photo- 
micrographs and numerous good and clear text figures, and there is also 
a map of the natural forest regions of the United States. In addition 
to the structural features, chapters are devoted to the physical properties 
of wood, e.g., density, water-content, shrinkage, hygroscopicity, pene- 
trability, and conductivity. 
Naturalist, 
