High Jungles and Low by Archie CarrReview by: Lorus J. Milne and Margery J. MilneThe Scientific Monthly, Vol. 77, No. 5 (Nov., 1953), p. 273Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/21181 .

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ably undefined)-e.g., "piecewise continuous" (p. 179), "bounded" (p. 456); reference (p. 173) to an "aver- age" height of a function with a jump discontinuity before such functions have been brought informally (p. 179) under the scope of the theory. The diagrams are generally good.

Criticisms similar to the foregoing can be urged against most calculus texts. The principal advantage of this text seems to be a pervading concern with the stu- dent's difficulties. The first chapter may turn out to be a genuine pedagogical contribution, and there are many valuable details. F. A. FICKEN

Department of Mathematics University of Tennessee

Stewart's Scientific Dictionary, 4th ed. Previously titled National Paint Dictionary. Jeffrey R. Stewart. 788 pp. $10.50 Stewart Research Laboratory, Alexandria, Va. 1953.

0 work more misnamed has come to the Editor's desk in years. This is the fourth edition of what

was previously called the National Paint Dictionary, certainly a far more appropriate title. No terms from the biological sciences are included in this "scientific dic- tionary" at all. Its coverage of physical terms is suffi- ciently apparent from the absence of "protron," "neu- tron," and "electron"; and its adequacy for general chemistry is revealed by the absence of "valence" aind by the definition of "bond" as "the attachment at an interface between an adhesive and an adherent, or as a verb, it means to attach materials together by adhesives. The term is frequently used in the Adhesives Industry."

Within the limits of the Paint Formulary, this is perhaps a useful reference work. It has a beautiful binding.

B. G.

High Jungles and Low. Archie Carr. xvi + 226 pp. Illus. $4.50. University of Florida Press, Gainesville. 1953.

A professor at the University of Florida who spent several years at the Escuela Agricola Panameri-

cana in Honduras, tells of his experiences during those years in the surrounding country with enthusiasm and the keen awareness of a naturalist. The book has all varieties of subject matter in four major sections dealing with The Land, People In The Land, The Sweet Sea, and Halls Of The Mountain Cow.

Anyone interested in additional information on jungle wildlife or the people of the tropics will find this book very delightful. There is even an abundant sprinkling of common Spanish words used in Central America, particularly those that apply to the ecology of the region. One finds that they are compelled to keep re- ferring to the adequate index so as to grasp the full understanding of the terms. After a while, this going back and forth in the book ceases and one emerges with a wealth of material.

With sympathetic understanding Archie Carr speaks wisely, "that any naturalist worth his salt-and blessed

with the opportunity-will go back day after day to the weeping woods or the rain-fed selva alike, and wander through the dim green light they share, con- ditioned by the prehuman look of the draped and festooned corridors to face any strange beast whatever, but not really disappointed if he should see nothing but the forest." So many expeditions have been made into the jungles expecting to see all manner of wildlife, but the initiated scientist knows better, "forest beasts may show almost unbelievable capacity for self-effacement."

There is an excellent plea for our wasting tropics and we can only hope that this is a step nearer in helping the Caribbean countries salvage their land- scapes. The sections telling of the natives and the his- tory of the country are very pleasant, but to us the most attractive parts of the book were the adventures in tapir country when he visited the Caribbean side of Nicaragua. The author kept a journal of his month-long expedition which makes fascinating reading for he encountered numerous adventures with wildlife in many surprising ways. Added to this are his experiences in camping and association with the natives.

The introductory material in the front of the book makes good reading and the several pages of photo- graphs at the back add considerable interest and meaning.

LORUS J. MILNE and MARGERY J. MILNE Zoology Department University of New Hampshire

The Yields of a Crop. W. Lawrence Balls. xv + 144 pp. Illus. +plates+ charts. 2Is. Spon Ltd., London. 1953.

THIS book is an abridged account of varied experi- mental studies that were directed toward under-

standing and improving the yield of the cotton crop in Egypt. It concerns itself with the effects upon that yield of the reform and development of the irrigation system from 1882 onward.

In the first part of the book, the author discusses the essential features of the provision of water. He presents a strong presumption that the water table has risen throughout most of the Delta of the Nile as a conse- quence of the formation and raising of the Barrage pond south of that Delta and of the high-level canals derived therefrom, and shows evidence from limited experiments that this general rise has continued and is still continu- ing, with the result that the soils of the Delta are now shallower than ever.

The author then proceeds to discuss the results of experiments on the effect on yield of various physiologi- cal phenomena produced by temperature, assimilation, water shortage, soil composition, insect pests, soil vol- ume, rising water table, and season. The interpretations given are used to assess the action of the various en- vironmental factors on the yield since 1882. He shows that over 64 years no climatic changes could account for the broad outlines of the change in yield and that the relentless downward trend in that yield during half a century after eliminating the four major variants, namely, the cotton leaf worm, the pink boll-worm, nitrog-

November, 1953 273

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