LITERARY NOTICES. 



5 6 3 



margin of the continent can hardly be es- 

 tablished without larger collections of fossils 

 from Western localities. The fishes, though 

 so far as yet known representing only six 

 genera and about twenty -five species, are 

 locally very numerous, and are found in 

 many places. The principal sites represented 

 in the volume are Boonton, N. J. ; Durham, 

 Conn. ; and Turner's Falls, Mass. ; while they 

 have also been obtained at Plainfield, Mil- 

 ford, Newark, and near Hoboken, N. J., aud 

 at Middletown, Sudbury, Chicopee, Amherst, 

 and Hadley's Falls, in the Connecticut Val- 

 ley. The several species are described in 

 detail and illustrated by figures apparently 

 of the size of nature. We are glad to learn 

 that the author's collection, which is the 

 largest yet made, is safely deposited in the 

 fire-proof Geological Museum of Columbia 

 College. 



Ligeros Apuntes sobre el Clima de la 

 Republica Argentina. (Notes on the 

 Climate of the Argentine Republic.) By 

 Gualterio G. Davis, Director of the 

 Argentine Meteorological Office, Buenos 

 Ayres. Pp. 254, with 27 Plates and 

 Charts. 



The Argentine Meteorological Office was 

 established in 1872, and was organized un- 

 der the direction of Dr. B. A. Gould, whom 

 Mr. Davis succeeded on his retirement after 

 twelve years of service. It has gradually 

 extended its sphere of operations to the 

 most remote parts of the country, and now 

 receives observations of the more important 

 weather phenomena from sixty-six stations, 

 and of rainfall from ninety more. The six 

 volumes of the publications of the office 

 embody the results of observations taken at 

 twenty -six points, with analytical discussions 

 of the data, and deductions of the general 

 laws of atmospheric changes ; and the an- 

 nual reports contain a large part of the re- 

 sults reached in the corresponding years. 

 But a more compact work was needed to 

 embody a summary of these results adapted 

 to practical use ; and the attempt is made 

 to supply this need in the present volume, 

 which is intended to put within reach of the 

 colonist, the farmer, and the doctor such 

 meteorological facts as bear upon their in- 

 dustrial enterprises and hygienic studies. 

 Twenty-one stations are selected as typical 

 of the various climatological conditions that 



prevail in all parts of the republic. The 

 lines extend from the Atlantic coast to the 

 western points of the country, and from lati- 

 tude 54 53' in Tierra del Fuego to Salta in 

 latitude 26 46' 20" ; the altitudes range 

 from 8 metres to 2,845 metres above the 

 level of the sea. To each of these stations 

 is allotted its given space for general de- 

 scription, with tables representing the vari- 

 ous meteorological facts in detail and a 

 graphic chart. The publication thus fur- 

 nishes a summary of the local climates, de- 

 duced from several years' observations of 

 the various districts of which the particular 

 stations are the centers. 



Monopolies and the People. By Charles 

 W. Baker, C. E. New York : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. Pp. 263. Price, $1.25. 

 There is abundant reason for including 

 monopoly among the " Questions of the 

 Day," as is done in this volume. Trusts and 

 monopolies exist, as the author shows at 

 length in a series of chapters, in manufactur- 

 ing, mining, transportation, trade, and labor. 

 There are monopolies constructed directly 

 by those who profit from them, monopolies 

 created by municipal enactments, and mo- 

 nopolies supported by governmental policy. 

 The author next examines the theory of uni- 

 versal competition, after which he states the 

 laws of modern competition. He denies that 

 " the prevalence of monopolies evidences the 

 decay of the nobler aspirations of humanity." 

 He regards them as an outgrowth of the 

 modern conditions of industry, and, while 

 they involve evils, he affirms that "the 

 remedy for the evils of monopoly is not 

 abolition, but control." He then specifies 

 some of these evils, and names also some 

 ameliorating influences. The remedies that 

 have been proposed are based on one or the 

 other of the opposite principles, individu- 

 alism and societism, or communism. Mr. 

 Baker maintains that neither should be 

 adopted wholly, and in his concluding chap- 

 ter advocates the owning of all railroads by 

 the Government, and their operation by cor- 

 porations which should pay a rental for the 

 privilege ; the owning of mines by the States, 

 which should lease them to private parties 

 for operation. Water-works, gas and elec- 

 tric lighting plants, street railways, and simi- 

 lar local enterprises should be owned by the 

 cities in which they are located, and also 



