278 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The chief features of our strange south 

 western region its pueblos and clifP-dwell- 

 ings, its ZuSi, Navajo, and other native in- 

 habitants, its plateaus, buttes, and canyons, 

 and foremost of its natural features the Great 

 Canyon of the Colorado River have been 

 made familiar of late by the reports of many 

 explorers. To Major J. W. Powell * belongs 

 the credit of making the first extended ex- 

 ploration of the Great Canyon and the region 

 through which it passes. This he did in the 

 years 1869 to 1872. His report of the sci- 

 entific results then obtained and a brief pop- 

 ular account of the exploration have been 

 published. He has now prepared a full his- 

 tory of the expedition, with descriptions of 

 the scenery, of the Indians and their cus- 

 toms, of the ruins and relies, and other sub- 

 jects of interest in the region traversed. The 

 volume is fully illustrated, its list of illustra- 

 tions occupying more than five pages, and it 

 is printed on heavy paper with wide margins. 



Prof. W. 0. Crosby's Tables for the De- 

 termination of Common Minerals, which ap- 

 peared in 1887, has now reached a third and 

 enlarged edition. In the new issue provision 

 has been made for the more ready and accu- 

 rate testing of streak, hardness, and specific 

 gravity. Twenty-five additional species have 

 been included with the two hundred in the 

 original tables, supplementary tables compris- 

 ing one hundred of the less common minerals 

 have been added, and a s3mopsis of the classifi- 

 cation of minerals has been inserted. These 

 additions, the author believes, will reduce to 

 a minimum the necessity of reference to 

 comprehensive works. 



It appears from the Sixth Annual Report 

 of the Missouri Botanical Garden that the 

 course of instruction in gardening was com- 

 pleted by one student in 1894, and another 

 left before the end of his course to take a 

 position at the Pennsylvania State College. 

 In response to many applications it was de- 

 cided to admit paying pupils in addition to 

 the six on scholarships. The Shaw School 

 of Botany and other branches of the garden's 

 work were carried on as usual. Appended 

 to the report are five papers on botanical 

 subjects, illustrated with fifty-six plates, and 



* Canyons of the Colorado. By J. W. Powell. 

 Meadville, Pa. : Flood & Yiucent. Pp. 400, quar- 

 to. Price, $10. 



the volume contains also several views of at- 

 tractive spots in the grounds. 



The Second Annual Report of the Iowa 

 Geological Survey embraces an account of 

 the work done in 1893 by the survey and 

 is accompanied by several special papers. 

 Among the subjects specifically treated are 

 the cretaceous and certain other deposits with- 

 in the State, glacial scorings, and buried river 

 channels. The Composition and Origin of 

 Iowa Chalk is discussed by Samuel Calvin, the 

 State Geologist. The geology of two coun- 

 ties is described by the assistant geologist, 

 Charles R. Keyes, who has also written sev- 

 eral of the other papers. 



The Cause of Warm and Frigid Periods 

 is discussed by C. A. M. Taber in a little 

 book of eighty pages (Ellie, Boston). From 

 an experience of twenty years spent in whal- 

 ing voyages in early life the author has been 

 brought to ascribe great influence to winds 

 and the surface currents of the sea in modi- 

 fying climate. He has carefully examined 

 the extant theories concerning the glacial 

 period, and gives his reasons for not finding 

 any of them entirely satisfactory. 



A Brief Descriptive Geography of the 

 Empire State, by C. W. Bardeen, consists of 

 a systematic and concise but attractive de- 

 scription of the natural and political features 

 of the State of New York, sadly marred by a 

 great lot of cheap, smudgy pictures. Teach- 

 ers who have any regard for the artistic 

 sense or the eyesight of their pupils will let 

 this book severely alone. (Bardeen, 75 cents.) 



To the series of English classics edited 

 by A. J. George and published by D. C. 

 Heath & Co. have been added Webster's First 

 Bunker Hill Oration (20 cents) and Burke's 

 Speech on Conciliation with Ame^-ica (30 

 cents). Mr. George is of the opinion that 

 the annotating of English literature for stu- 

 dents has often been injudiciously done. 

 Accordingly, instead of placing a surfeit of 

 biographical, histoi'ical, and critical material 

 under the eyes of the pupils, he has shown 

 where this matter may be found, thus giving 

 them valuable intellectual exercise in getting 

 it and preventing mental dyspepsia from bolt- 

 ing unmasticated facts. 



M. Stanislas Meunier, of the Jardin des 

 Plantes, Paris, has been for many years en- 

 gaged in the study of what he calls Compara^ 

 live Geology, which he defines as having the 



