BOOKS RECEIVED. 



675 



of the Timbers of Commerce." By G. S. Boulger, F.L.S., &c. (Edward 

 Arnold, London. 1902.) Price 7s. 6d. 



In a manual of a little over 300 pages it is quite impossible to do 

 justice to the woods of commerce, whether in a descriptive or commercial 

 sense. From a strictly theoretical point of view the work is to be recom- 

 mended ; but it is sadly deficient in such matters as would appeal directly 

 to those who have even a limited knowledge of the woods of commerce, 

 including their habitats, nature, and conversion. Of the seven chapters 

 into which the first part of the book is divided, the second and fifth contain 

 much that will interest and be useful to the timber merchant ; while the 

 student of forestry will find the opening pages, which contain a technical 

 resume of " the origin, structure, and development of wood, and its use to 

 the tree," both instructive and valuable. We think, however, that the cause 

 of "cup-shake," in " Defects of Wood," particularly in the timber of the 

 Spanish Chestnut, will find but few supporters amongst practical foresters 

 and wood merchants. Part II. is devoted to an alphabetically-arranged 

 list of the timber-producing trees of commerce, their sources, characters, 

 and uses, which will be found handy for reference, the descriptions of 

 many being, however, as one would expect, meagre and of little value to 

 those who are directly interested in the many uses to which some of the 

 woods are applied in their native countries. From experiments which 

 have been undertaken in connection with a large number of introduced 

 Conifers we expected our home-grown woods to have received a much 

 greater share of attention, particularly at present, when the supply has 

 fallen short of the demand, and prices are at least one- third higher than 

 was the case less than a quarter of a century ago. The book contains a 

 number of well-executed illustrations, which should go far in elucidating 

 some knotty points regarding the structure and development of wood. 



" Easily-grown Hardy Perennials." By G. H. Vos, B.A. (Colling- 

 ridge, London.) 5s. 



A book containing a short notice of all (or almost all) the ordinary 

 herbaceous -border plants. It is admirably arranged and planned, and 

 illustrated with 255 really good photographic reproductions of the most 

 typical plants. The Latin and English names are first given, with their 

 derivation and meaning ; then the habit of the plant and its use and 

 place in the garden are fully described ; and lastly the particular culture 

 (if any) and its propagation are carefully noted, a warning word being 

 given here and there against what must be called garden weeds. The 

 plants are all arranged alphabetically under their Latin names, but an 

 index at the beginning contains all the better known English names, with 

 cross references. It will be a useful book to give to anyone just begin- 

 ning an herbaceous border of plants, both old and new. 



" A University Text-book of Botany." By D. H. Campbell, Ph.D. 

 With many illustrations. (Macmillan, London.) 17s. 



The author describes it as " an outline of the essentials of modern 

 botany . . . prepared for the use of students in America." The para- 

 graphs are necessarily exceedingly short, for the author has succeeded in 



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