August 1, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



199 



culture to inquire into and report as to tlie 

 present position and future prospects of for- 

 estry in Great Britain, and to consider whether 

 any measures might be taken, either by the 

 provision of further educational facilities or 

 otherwise, for its promotion and encourage- 

 ment, has held its first sitting. Mr. K. C. 

 Munro-Ferguson, M.P., was in the chair; and 

 the other members of the committee were also 

 present — viz.. Sir John EoUeston, M.P., Mr. 

 E. Stafford Howard, C.B., Dr. W. Schlich, 

 CLE., F.E.S., Lieutenant-Colonel F. Bailey, 

 Professor J. 'E. Campbell, Mr. J. Herbert 

 Lewis, M.P., Mr. George Marshall and Dr. 

 W. Somerville. The following witnesses gave 

 evidence : Mr. Samuel Margerison (represent- 

 ing the Timber Trade Federation), Mr. Charles 

 Hopton (vice-president of the Timber Trade 

 Federation), Lieutenant- Colonel Bailey (Lec- 

 turer in Forestry at Edinburgh University), 

 the Earl of Selborne, Sr. John Eamsden, Mr. 

 Andrew Slater (Osborne), Mr. W. B. Have- 

 lock (Brocklesby, Lines.), Mr. A. C. Forbes 

 (Longleat, Wilts), Lord Glanusk, Mr. Donald 

 Eobertson (representing the Eoyal Scottish 

 Arboricultural Society), Mr. John Davidson 

 (secretary of the English Arboricultural So- 

 ciety), Mr. Arthur Vernon (High Wycombe), 

 Dr. W. Schlich (principal professor of For- 

 estry, Coopers-hill), Mr. Dudley W. Drum- 

 mond (Ferryside, South Wales), Mr. Alex- 

 ander Pitcaithley (Scone, Perthshire), and Mr. 

 John H. Croxford (managing director of 

 Messrs. Price, Walker and Co., timber im- 

 porters, Gloucester) . 



Mr. Frank H. Mason, our Consul-General 

 at Berlin, calls attention to the 'Motor-Boat' 

 Exposition held at Berlin, during the pres- 

 ent summer, and suggests that American 

 makers are losing an opportunity where fail- 

 ing to exhibit. The excuse for not doing so, 

 on the part of the majority of builders, is that 

 they are too busy at home. Mr. Mason re- 

 joins : " This may be true, but it is a fair ques- 

 tion whether neglect to utilize an opportunity 

 like this will not be a repetition of the mis- 

 take which the makers of fire-extinguishing 

 apparatus committed, when they failed to ex- 

 hibit at the special exposition of firemen's 

 appliances held here last year. The one Amer- 



ican firm which did exhibit ^n electric fire- 

 alarm system is now putting it in for the city 

 of Hanover, and has under negotiation eon- 

 tracts for similar installations in other Ger- 

 man cities. There is abundant evidence that 

 a good representative American display at the 

 motor-boat exposition this year would be an 

 unusually promising investment for the ex- 

 hibitors. It is fully understood here that our 

 country is first and foremost in all that re- 

 lates to the construction and use of motor 

 boats as naval auxiliaries and for pleasure and 

 business purposes. It is also recognized that 

 Germany — the original home of the gas en- 

 gine — is so far behind in that class of water 

 craft that the field is practically unoccupied. 

 So many inquiries have been received by the 

 committee about probable American exhibits 

 — their tonnage, cost, and other details — that 

 there is evidence of a real demand, and the 

 committee states that from all such indica- 

 tions, American exhibitors of standard types 

 of motor-boats, engines, etc., would be prac- 

 tically certain not only to sell their entire 

 lists of exhibits, but to take numerous orders 

 for future delivery. Eesponsible firms here 

 and at the large German seaports are eager to 

 accept agencies to represent American build- 

 ers, and German machinists will be on the 

 watch to purchase valuable patents in that 

 class. Obviously, all novelties should be 

 patented or registered and the patents applied 

 for before being exhibited anywhere in Eu- 

 roi^e. It will be many years before another 

 special international exhibition and classified 

 competition of motor boats will be held in this 

 country, and the present opportunity once lost 

 will not soon recur. The committee authorizes 

 the statement that every reasonable concession 

 and assistance to facilitate a representative 

 American display will be gladly and promptly 

 accorded. Berlin is the center and mart of a 

 vast system of canals, lakes, and canalized 

 rivers which could be freely navigated by 

 motor boats, where few or none now exist. If 

 American builders will not reach out to grasp 

 an opportunity like this, the builders of other 

 countries — notably Great Britain, France, and 

 Belgium — certainly will." 



