114 C. E. Moss, W. M. Rankin and A. G. Tansley. 
and recorded on a map by means of different colours, so far as the 
scale of the map will allow. In the memoir accompanying the 
finished vegetation-map, the characteristics of each type are analysed, 
lists of constituent species are given (in which “dominant” are 
distinguished from “ subordinate ” species), the transitions between, 
and mutual relations of, the different types, and the connexion of 
each with soil and climatic characters and with the geological 
structure of the country are discussed ; while the displacement of 
one type by another, and so far as possible the relations of each to 
forestry and agriculture, the two great industries directly based 
upon the conditions determining natural vegetation, are dealt with. 
The successive memoirs published by members of the Committee 
show progress in all these directions. This progress is due to the 
gradual extension of the survey to fresh regions, to the compara¬ 
tively large areas which can be dealt with by the method, to increased 
insight into the real nature and relationships of the different types, 
and finally to the close co-operation rendered possible by the 
existence and frequent meetings of the Committee, both round the 
table and in the field. 
The study on these lines of the British woodlands, though by 
no means complete, has now reached a stage at which a general 
presentation of the subject has become possible; and the present 
paper will, it is hoped, serve a useful purpose by making available 
to a wider circle some of the more general results in one branch of 
the Committee’s work. As time goes on, it is proposed to deal in a 
similar way with other types of vegetation, such as grassland, 
heath, moorland, freshwater marshes, salt marshes, and sand dunes. 
The Status of British Woodlands. 
It is desirable at the outset to present our conclusions as to 
the status of British woodlands in general. 
In a country like England, much of which has been cultivated 
and comparatively thickly populated for centuries, it may be asked, 
do there remain any natural woodlands at all ? Have not existing 
woods been so altered by planting and in other ways that they no 
longer represent the native plant-communities, but are rather to be 
considered as mere congeries of indigenous and introduced species ? 
It is undoubtedly true that there is little “Urwald” or true 
virgin forest remaining in the country, though some of the woods, 
especially near the upper limit of woodland in the more mountainous 
regions, might make good their claim to this title. On the other 
