572 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLHI. No. 1112 



with its seven chapters, treats of the Hawaiian 

 people, telling of the coming of the Hawaiian 

 race, the effect of the tranquil environment of 

 the islands upon the people, discussing also 

 their physical characteristics and their cul- 

 ture in a broad way. Section II., with four- 

 teen chapters, treats of the geology, geography 

 and topography of the islands, including two 

 chapters on the world's greatest active volcano, 

 Kilauea. Section ill. gives a consideration 

 of the flora of the islands, devoting one chapter 

 to the plant life of the seashore and the low- 

 lands, and the other to the vegetation of the 

 high mountains. Section IV. is on agricid- 

 tm-e and horticulture in Hawaii, with four 

 chapters. All of this portion of the volume is 

 included in what is termed " Book I." Book 

 II., in the same volume, considers the animal 

 life of the group and devotes seventeen chap- 

 ters to its consideration. 



Of course the field covered is so great that 

 the author can not pretend to speak authorita- 

 tively on all points, but he has carefidly 

 studied the writings of the many experts who 

 have written about the differing topics, and 

 acknowledges the assistance of many natural- 

 ists. But all information has been sifted and 

 studied by the author who for many years has 

 led an active naturalist's life in the islands. 



The volume is elaborately illustrated with 

 half-tones from original photographs, and in- 

 cludes 117 full-page plates from 435 negatives. 

 Many of the plates are extremely beautiful. 



The characteristics of the people are admir- 

 ably explained by their environment. They 

 were preeminently an agricultural people, and 

 the lack of domestic and wild animals pre- 

 vented them from following the hunting and 

 pastoral life. As a result, they settled in i)er- 

 manent villages usually along the coast. 

 " Since there were no noxious insects, poison- 

 ous serpents or dangerous birds or beasts of 

 prey, there was no occasion for the alertness 

 and constant fear that so frequently makes 

 life in a tropical country a never-ending 

 strain if not an actual burden." An interest- 

 ing paragraph on the medicine of the 

 Hawaiians indicates a very considerable de- 

 gree of medical and surgical skill. It is inter- 



esting to note further that boxing was perhaps 

 their national game, and was regulated by cer- 

 tain rules, •umpires being appointed, and the 

 victor defending the ring against all comers. 



What one notes all through the book is an 

 extraordinary condition of the fauna and 

 their place. Some of these changes have been 

 due to the struggle for existence alone; others 

 have occurred directly through the agency of 

 man. As an example of this last, the sandal- 

 wood trade, beginning about 1792, resulted in 

 the practical extermination of that valuable 

 tree. As early as 1831 the trade was on the 

 decline, and by 1856 the wood had become very 

 scarce. Many trees and plants purposefully 

 introduced have thrived in an extraordinary 

 way, some of them in fact becoming important 

 pests. The mesquite of the southwestern 

 United States and Mexico, straggly, unimpos- 

 ing, although very useful, shrub-like tree that 

 it is, becomes in Hawaii a rather imposing 

 feature of the landscape; glorious specimens 

 grow in some gardens of the city of Honolulu, 

 and the large pods form one of the most impor- 

 tant stock foods. On the other hand, the 

 lantana weed, introduced for ornament, speed- 

 ily became so abundant as to ruin the land 

 over large stretches of the country, driving out 

 every other plant. Inspired by their success 

 in introducing beneficial insects to prey upon 

 injurious insects, the Sugar Planters Asso- 

 ciation imported certain plant-feeding insects 

 to kill off the lantana. This experiment, al- 

 though very dangerous and never to be ad- 

 vised, was in this case apparently very success- 

 ful, and the lantana, although still abundant, 

 is no longer a serious pest. 



It is interesting to note that there are no 

 land snakes in Hawaii. 



An interesting section deals with the whal- 

 ing industry, since the Hawaiian Islands were 

 in the center of this trade for many years, the 

 industry reaching its height in 1852, thou- 

 sands of native Hawaiians being employed 

 as whalers. 



The consideration of the birds of the islands 

 is very full, although to the casual visitor 

 there seem to be practically no birds. Al- 

 though there are 125 or more species enumer- 

 ated, not more than half a dozen can be seen 



