April 20, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



m 



Over the east coast of England birds flow on over the 

 land in unbroken waves, but on the Scottish east coast 

 the waves of migration are compressed, and flow up the 

 depressions. 



At the close of his address, the President gives a list 

 of the birds which breed on the Isle of May. Among 

 these was the eider-duck, which we regret to learn has 

 been nearly driven away by persecution. 



An interesting paper by Professor Duns on the Water 

 Vole [Aricola amphibia) shows that this species often 

 takes up its abode at a considerable distance from the 

 water, making " runs " and throwing up " hills " like 

 the mole. It never appears to prey upon worms or in- 

 sects, but it does much damage to root-crops, and destroys 

 bushes and seedling apple-trees .by gnawing their 

 roots. 



The remaining papers in this issue are devoted to 

 various forms of oceanic"life, to which now so many zoolo- 

 gists confine themselves — in our opinion, unfortunately 

 — to the neglect of terrestrial life, vertebrate or everte- 

 brate. 



Granites and our Granite Industries. By G. F Harris, 

 F.G.S. London : Crosby Lockwood and Son. 



This work is both geological and technical, intended 

 mainly for the benefit of quarry-owners and consumers of 

 granite. As a preliminary the author explains the classi- 

 fication of rocks as usually adopted by geologists. He then 

 proceeds to the structure of granite, recommending first a 

 macroscopic and then a microscopic examination. For 

 the latter, a magnifying power of 60 to 100 diameters is 

 sufficient. The necessity for the use of a polarising 

 apparatus is, however, insisted on as necessary for 

 ascertaining the characters of the component minerals of 

 the specimen. The origin of granite is next discussed, 

 and referred to the fusion and cooling of suitable rocks. 

 Next comes a very full account of the granite-quarries 

 of the British Islands. These are found in England in 

 Devon and Cornwall, at Shap Fell in Westmoreland, 

 and at Mountsorrel in Leicestershire. The Channel 

 Islands yields abundance of this rock. The Scottish 

 granite-quarries are chiefly in the counties of Aberdeen, 

 Kirkcudbright, and Argyle, and the islands of Arran and 

 Mull. Smaller deposits are met with in Perth, Banff, 

 Sutherland, and in the Hebrides. Foremost stand the 

 beds in Aberdeenshire, where over a million tons are 

 quarried yearly. Ireland is fairly rich in workable 

 granite. Extensive beds are found in Donegal, Galway, 

 Wicklow, Wexford, Dublin, in the Mourne and the Car- 

 lingford Mountains. Most of the granite tracts are close 

 upon the sea In the Bessbrook quarries near Newry, 

 blocks free from fractures are found of as much as seven 

 yards in length. 



As regards blasting in granite-quarries, we are not sur^ 

 prised to learn that where good solid blocks for building 

 purposes are required, gunpowder is the agent preferred. 

 Dynamite and, in like manner, all the so-called " high " 

 explosives shatter the rock too much. The author ex- 

 presses his surprise that electricity is not more used in 

 blasting, on account of its safety and expedition. 



The selection of different qualities of granite for 

 different purposes is an important consideration, and the 

 author points out the conditions which render it unfit for 

 architectural uses. The question is raised why granite 

 is not more commonly used in London. But " buildings 

 made of a durable and beautiful material " will never be 

 common in London until longer building leases — such 



as are customary in Yorkshire and Lancashire — are in- 

 troduced. 



Mr. Harris's work will be very useful to engineers, 

 architects, and builders, as well as to the quarrying 

 interest. 



Schools of Forestry in Germany, with Addenda relative to 

 a desiderated British National School of Forestry. Com-- 

 piled by John Crombie Brown, LL.D. Edinburgh : 

 Oliver and Boyd. 



Not the least desirable of the changes which have come 

 over the human mind during the last half century is the 

 altered manner in which trees are regarded in all civilised 

 countries. In the days of our grandfathers they were 

 viewed as mere cumber- grounds, to be cleared away in 

 any manner or for any purpose. Now we have learnt 

 that, independently of the value of forests for carpentery 

 purposes, they have a high climatological and sanitary 

 importance. Certain far-seeing men long ago sought to 

 convince the public of the folly of a reckless destruction 

 of forests. Colbert even gave utterance to the assertion 

 that "France will perish through lack of wood." In 

 1 72 1 Reaumur, in a memoir presented to the Academy 

 of Sciences, declared that : " The interests of the State 

 demand at the least that the quantity of wood should not 

 be diminished while the consumption is being increased." 

 These warnings were, for the time, unheeded. But now 

 France and Spain feel it necessary to incur heavy expense 

 in replanting their denuded hill-sides, and find it pay. 

 The same work, with the same results, is being carried 

 on in the north-west of India. The Americans are be- 

 ginning to admit that if one-fourth of a region is devoted 

 to forests the remaining three-fourths wifl yield more 

 than would the whole if recklessly laid bare. From the 

 prospectus of some other works by the same author on 

 kindred subjects we learn that the damage occasioned by 

 torrents in Cape Colony and Natal must amount to hun- 

 dreds of thousands sterling yearly. At the close of 1874 

 the havoc occasioned in public works alone is estimated 

 at ^^350,000 ! But restrictions on felUng trees and re- 

 planting the mountain-sides will be labour in vain, un- 

 less the goats are disestablished. 



The author's account of the schools of forestry in 

 Germany is exceedingly interesting as affording proof of 

 the great importance attached in that country to the con- 

 servation of forests. We are far from holding that these 

 institutions ought to be closely followed in schools of 

 forestry for the United Kingdom, for India, and the 

 colonies. It seems to us that there is too much time and 

 attention devoted to abstract studies, such as the higher 

 mathematics, and even forest-laws. We make this remark 

 from the conviction that the class of minds best fitted for 

 the close and accurate observation of vegetable and 

 anima'i fife will either be repelled or impaired by being 

 made to take up such uncongenial studies. 



One of our national mistakes is that candidates for the 

 Indian forest-service, after passing certain examinations 

 in England, go, under an arrangement with the French 

 Government, to be trained in the forest-schools of France. 

 We hold that their training should be effected in India, 

 and not in a country where the trees to be conserved, 

 their animal and vegetable enemies, and the climate and 

 seasonal conditions are totally different. 



Dr. Brown is recognised throughout Europe as an 

 authority on forestry, and his works will be found most 

 instructive reading. 



