March 14, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



417 



that is produced by Spencer's work, least satis- 

 factory where the reader knows most about 

 the subjects treated. Certainly under the 

 heads of neurology and psychology, it is some- 

 what inaccurate and a trifle naive. The au- 

 thor seems willing almost anywhere to take 

 up a position on questions that are contro- 

 verted and inherently difficult of decision. 

 Another criticism is that the deductive tend- 

 ency is more implicitly followed by the author 

 than the nature of his material allows. Once 

 having reached a (perhaps tentative) conclu- 

 sion on some question, he is satisfied to use 

 this conclusion as the basis of far-reaching 

 deductions. For example, this is his evidence 

 in favor of a richer emotional life in warm- 

 blooded than in cold-blooded animals : " The 

 warm-blooded type developed as a result of the 

 development of the sympathetic nervous sys- 

 tem, which regulates the vasomotor system in 

 such a fashion as to keep the body at a uni- 

 form temperature by sending blood where 

 more warmth is needed and stimulating the 

 action of the sweat glands where the heat 

 needs to be reduced. I have not the space to 

 discuss the causes for this development here. 

 As we have seen in an earlier chapter, the 

 emotions arise out of the activity of the 

 sympathetic system, so that the development 

 of that system means the development of the 

 emotional nature of these classes of animals. 

 So that the emotions involved in sexual, pa- 

 rental and wider social relationships now begin 

 to play a wider part " (pp. 372-373). It is but 

 fair to say that the author's treatment is much 

 more satisfactory when the broad trend of the 

 book is considered than when particular pas- 

 sages are taken for examination. Certainly 

 it is well to bring emphatically before the 

 reading public the notion that a science of hu- 

 man behavior is possible (and actual, as well, 

 to a much greater degree than this book indi- 

 cates), and that this science is distinctly a bio- 

 logical science, related to the study of animal 

 behavior, on one side, and on another, to the 

 structure and functions of the nervous sys- 

 tem. 



E. S. WOODWORTH 



Columbia University 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



FIGHTING THE CHESTNUT BLIGHT 



One of the most interesting contests is now 

 being waged between the trained plant pathol- 

 ogists on the one hand and a parasitic fungus 

 on the other, and thus far it must be admitted 

 that the outcome of the battle is by no means 

 as assured as we could wish it to be. The 

 chestnut tree is found naturally in an area 

 stretching from southern Maine to Georgia 

 and Alabama and extending a greater or less 

 distance east and west of the Appalachian 

 Mountains. A few years ago (1904) a dis- 

 ease of the bark of this tree appeared near 

 New York City, and from this point it has 

 spread northeastward, westward and south- 

 eastward as far as Massachusetts, Vermont, 

 Central Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. 

 It has been made out that the disease is due 

 to a Sphaeriaceus fungus known as Diaporthe 

 parasitica, the structure of which has been 

 pretty well investigated. 



So threatening has this disease become that 

 last February a general conference was held 

 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for the consid- 

 eration of ways and means for preventing its 

 further spread, the results of which appeared 

 a little later in a thick pamphlet of a little 

 more than two hundred and fifty pages of 

 papers, discussions and proposed programs. 

 Many half-tone reproductions of drawings and 

 photographs add greatly to the value of the 

 publication, which must prove to be most use- 

 ful to the man who wants to try to save his 

 chestnut trees, as well as to the botanist who 

 wishes to keep in touch with this contest 

 between pathological science and a rapidly 

 spreading, disease-producing fungus. As the 

 pamphlet is a state publication it can no 

 doubt be had by application to the governor, 

 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



A HANDY little flora of central and northern 

 Europe has been compiled by F. Hermann, 

 and published by Weigel (Leipzig) under the 

 title of " Flora von Deutschland und Fenno- 

 skandinavien sowie von Island und Spitz- 



