BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 



41 



They find the highest rates of evaporation in the initial stages of both 

 the prairie and forest successions. They believe "the observations indi- 

 cate that successions between associations are not caused by any condi- 

 tion of evaporation." This last statement is not easily reconciled with 

 the others, since successions are directly due to the survival of seedlings 

 and the rate of evaporation must be very important in this connection. 

 — E. N. T. 



^'egetation of Natal. — Bews has published a brief account of the 

 climate and vegetation of Natal, with some excellent illustrations.' The 

 coastal bushland is of tropical floristic composition, the midland is less 

 tropical but like the coastal in being dominated by evergreen broad- 

 leaved trees; the bush of the interior is largely made up of Podocarpus. 

 The greater portion of the interior is occupied by thorn veld, a savannah 

 formation, and by high-level or low-level veld, as the author designates 

 the commonest types of grassland. The ingenuous supposition that the 

 trees of the thorn veld might occupj^ spots with a greater soil moisture 

 than the grass-covered intervals between them led to the discovery of 

 a uniform!}' low moisture content. The prevention of veld fires (and 

 apparently of grazing also) results in an increased stand of trees in the 

 thorn veld. A large body of well presented climatological data throws 

 a small amount of light on the distributional features of the vegetation. 

 — F. S. 



» Bews, J. W.: The Vegetation of Natal. Ann. Natal Mus. 2 : 253-331; pis. 14- 

 23, 912. 



