BOOK NOTICES. 



481 



organism, a never ceasing struggle is go- 

 ing on, tree fighting against tree, species 

 against species; while the entire organism 

 carries on a warfare with other plant as- 

 sociations, such as the prairie and the bog, 

 in which it is sometimes vanquished, some- 

 times victorious." 



In another place Bruncken says that "as 

 early as 1665 Edward Randolph was made 

 surveyor of the woods and timbers of 

 Maine at a salary of 50 pounds a year. 

 The orifice seems to have been a sine- 

 cure, for at a later time Governor Bella- 

 mont said that Randolph "never did a six- 

 pence work." In 1691 the office of "Sur- 

 veyor-General of the Woods" was estab- 

 lished, covering all the provinces of which 

 Bellamont was Governor. At first Ran- 

 dolph held this place, but a few years later 

 his successor, Bridges, entered on a quar- 

 ter century of what the colonists consid- 

 ered "pernicious activity." His duties 

 were to see that no masts were exported 

 without a license; that no waste of timber 

 was permitted, and especially that no trees 

 reserved for the royal navy were cut. In 

 the various grants of land by the govern- 

 ment provisions were usually inserted re- 

 serving all pines of 24 inches in diameter 

 at 12 inches from the ground. The pen- 

 alty for cutting a marked tree was 100 

 pounds. These rules and regulations were 

 resented by the colonists, and even as early 

 as 1691 the people refused to be restricted 

 by such limitations. They had left Eu- 

 rope to get rid of paternalism, and ever 

 since individualism has had unlimited sway 

 in this country. 



It would require too much space to quote 

 even a few of the many interesting things 

 in this book. It is the best book of its 

 kind in this country, and should be care- 

 fully read by every person interested in 

 the subject of forestry. 



AMERICAN POEMS OF NATURE. 

 In these days of many verses and few 

 poems, really good collections of nature 

 poems are things to be desired and wel- 

 comed when they come. Considering the 

 annual output of verses of this class, both 

 machine made and hand carved, I have 

 often wondered why the lovers of such 

 things do not oftener gather them into col- 

 lections and publish them. 



There are many verse lovers who will re- 

 gard Miss Marble's "Nature Pictures by 

 American Poets" as an admirable collec- 

 tion; which it is. It betokens, on the part 

 of the editor, a poetic temperament of the 

 most refined type; one which delights in 

 verses of quiet beauty and depth of poetic 

 feeling, rather than in those of strength 

 and fire. For instance, into her section of 

 "Bird Notes and Crickets' Chirp," she ad- 

 mits no bird larger than a robin, nor one 



more bloodthirsty than a iay. The quad- 

 rupeds, which have teeth and claws, and 

 legs to kick with, are barred out, en masse. 

 This is Miss Marble's privilege, but many 

 readers will be likely to consider her selec- 

 tions rather tame ; which to me is what they 

 are. 



This is distinctly a woman's book of Na- 

 ture verses. To most men, it is a weak and 

 incomplete "Nature," which totally lacks 

 game birds, birds of prey, the fishes that 

 are best worth knowing, and the whole ruck 

 of quadrupeds, good and bad. But we are 

 not all alike, and Miss Marble will have 

 her full complement of sympathetic readers. 

 The manner in which the contents of her 

 volume have been classified and indexed for 

 ready reference, shows a practiced hand, 

 and adds materially to the permanent 

 value of her work. 



"Nature Pictures by American Poets." 

 Selected and edited by Miss Annie Russell 

 Marble, A.M., i2mo, pp. xiii.-205. The 

 Macmillan Company. New York. $1.25. 



"Muscle, Brain and Diet," by Eustace 

 H. Miles, M. A. (Cambridge), is a strong 

 plea for simpler foods. Mr. Miles urges 

 the use of these, not only because they are 

 cheaper, but because they give better re- 

 sults for strength, health, power and hap- 

 piness. It is interesting to note that Mr. 

 Miles' own experience causes him to en- 

 dorse wheat products, milk, fruits, nuts 

 and vegetables rather than meat. He pro- 

 tests against the use of stimulants and 

 recommends eating lightly. Valuable 

 menus and recipes are given. The work 

 is somewhat marred, however, by excessixe 

 use of italics. Published by The Macmillan 

 Co., New York. 



"Golf: A Royal and Ancient Game," is 

 an elaborately illustrated and handsome 

 volume, treating of the subject from every 

 possible point of view. Some of the most 

 interesting and important chapters are 

 those giving the history of the game, those 

 relating to the St. Andrews and other 

 noted golf clubs, Acts of Parliament g 

 erning the game, ancient ballads composed 

 in its honor, and the rules hv which it 

 should be played. Published by The Mae 

 millan Company, New York ; price. 



"Notes on Sport and Travel." by ( i< ■■ 

 H. Kingsley, with a memoir by his daugh 

 ter, Mary H. Kingsley, covers ground 

 from a Southerland Hillside to New Zea 

 land and Colorado, the author having 

 hunted and fished in all land de- 



scriptions of life among the sharks and 

 whales and "The Last Salmon before Close 

 Time" are particularly delightful. The 

 Macmillan Company, New York ; price, 

 $3.50. 



