FORESTRY DIVI810N. 



179 



comprising the most miscellaneous collection of articles, curious and otherwise — 

 more or less associated with forestry and forest produce. 



Dr. Brandts, late inspector-general of forests, India, sent a steel diameter gauge, 

 made by Theophil Beck, Kehl, near Strasburg. This instrument is used in the for- 

 ests of the Prince of Furstenberg, and is certified by Dr. Brandis to be the best diam- 

 eter gauge for foresters. 



A new instrument for expeditiously measuring heights and distances in a simple 

 and accurate manner was shown by D. F. Mackenzie, factor, Morton Neall, inventor and 

 patentee. It is styled a " dendrometer," and it has received the silver medal of the 

 Scottish Arboricultural Society. Not only does Mr. Mackenzie's dendrometer measure 

 the height of a tree or other object in the same manner as other dendrometers when a 

 horizontal base line can be measured, but it also measures with ease and accuracy the 

 height of any object which can be seen from any standpoint, whether upon an as- 

 cending or descending base line. The dendrometer being placed in position and the 

 base distance measured, the instrument is adjusted in an instant, and the height of 

 the object is immediately ascertained by reading off the figures on the perpendicular 

 limb of the instrument. It can also be used with the same facility in finding the dis- 

 tance to any object, which is a novel feature in any instrument of the kind, and likely 

 to make it extremely useful for a variety of purposes besides those of the forester. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Of the animals frequenting woods and forests and the insects which are destruct- 

 ive to timber, a considerable display was made. Captain Wardlaw Kanisay exhib- 

 ited a very fine collection of woodpeckers, numbering nearly 300, from the splendid 

 collection of birds, comprising over 50,000 specimens, which were left to him by the 

 late Marquis of Tweeddale. America, of course, supplies the larger number of the 

 species. Some of them shown are very rare. In the Indian collection were two fine 

 specimens of the great horn-bill — a bird which makes its nest in the hollow trees. It 

 is the habit of this small bird to make his partner a prisoner during the entire period 

 of in'cubation, and this he does by plastering up the entrance to the nest, leaving 

 only a narrow slit through which he feeds his imprisoned mate. British Guiana 

 birds and insects have already been noticed. Trophies of the chase were lent by the 

 Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, and other noblemen and gentlemen, and in- 

 cluded the heads of all sorts of game, from the elephant and tiger to the stag shot in 

 the Balmoral forests. Of the insects which do damage to trees, the most complete 

 collection was that sent by the reporter. A few cases of British insects were exhib- 

 ited, but for the most part the insects were not named nor the species of tree of which 

 they are the pest distinguished. In the Indian department the ravages of the car- 

 penter bee and the white ant were exemplified, and there were also sections of wood 

 showing the mischief done to timber by marine worms. 



ADDENDUM TO XOTES ON THE INDIAN COLLECTION. 



Since writing the notes I have learned that the authorities of the India office have 

 decided, after much consideration, to discontinue the system of training young men for 

 the Indian forestry service on the continent. Henceforth the resources within this 

 country (Great Britain) will be utilized for the education of forest candidates. The 

 Royal Engineering College, Coopers Kill. Staines, is the place selected in the first in- 

 stance. There a thoroughly good teaching stall' already exists, and the proximity of 

 the college to the royal gardens at Kew will be of advantage to the students. One 

 thing is needed — a tract of forest secured for systematic management and profes- 

 sional instruction. 



NEW ORLEANS CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION. 



At the approaching World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Expo- 

 sition at Kew Orleans the appropriation made at the late session of 

 Congress will enable the Department to make an exhibition illustrative 

 of forestry, which, though far from being complete, it is believed will 

 form an interesting feature of the Exposition, and show to the multi- 

 tudes who are likely to visit it the practical value and importance of 

 the work which the Department is engaged in through its Forestry 

 Bureau. 



Personal visitation of many of the wood- working factories of the 

 country by the chief of the Bureau and some of its agents, and an ex- 

 tensive correspondence on the subject, have resulted iu securing a large 



