628 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



contours ef 1,000 feet of vertical intervals, 

 and embodying all the results of the au- 

 thor's researches on elevations, accom- 

 panies the work. We are informed that, 

 " to express still more clearly the facts 

 brought out by the map, it is the intention 

 of the Survey (Hayden's) to make shortly 

 a relief model of the United States on the 

 basis of this map." 



Influence of Physical Conditions in the 

 Genesis of Species. By J. A. Allen. 

 (From the Radical Review.) Pp. 33. 



Mr. Allen, in enforcing his thesis that 

 the " conditions of environment " are the 

 principal factors in modifying species, ad- 

 duces some very instructive examples of 

 the progressive enlargement of certain 

 peripheral parts of animals as we go from 

 the north to the south. Thus the ears of 

 wolves, foxes, some deer, and hares, are 

 larger in southern than in northern indi- 

 viduals of the same species. In birds, the 

 enlargement of the bill, claws, and tail, is 

 specially noticeable the bill being pecul- 

 iarly susceptible of variation. This, the 

 author remarks, accords with the general 

 fact that " all the ornithic types in which 

 the bill is remarkably enlarged occur in the 

 intertropical regions." A similar progres- 

 sive change southward is remarked in the 

 color of animals, especially birds. 



The Geology of the Eastern Portion of 

 THE Uintah Mountains. By J. W. 

 Powell. Washington : Government 

 Printing-office. Pp. 217. 



The region described in this report by 

 Prof Powell comprises three great geologi- 

 cal provinces, designated respectively the 

 Park Province, the Plateau Province, and 

 the Basin Province, succeeding one another 

 in this order from east to west, and all lying 

 east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the 

 great Plains. The whole region is one of con- 

 siderable geological interest, as presenting 

 on a large scale three great categories of 

 facts, namely, those relating to displacement, 

 degradation, and sedimentation. The forma- 

 tions here studied have an aggregate thick- 

 ness of 50,000 feet, and embrace strata of 

 the Palaeozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Ceno- 

 zoic ages. The volume is fully illustrated 

 with plates and woodcuts, and accompanied 

 by an atlas of colored maps. 



Geographical Surveys west of the One- 

 Hundredth Meridian. By Lieutenant 

 G. M. Wheeler. Pp. 355. With Il- 

 lustrations. Washington : Government 

 Printing-Office. 



During the year ending June, 1876, 

 Lieutenant Wheeler's Survey was organized 

 in two divisions, designed to operate, the 

 one in California, and the other in Colorado 

 and New Mexico. The volume before us, 

 besides the general report of Lieutenant 

 Wheeler, and the executive and descriptive 

 reports of the officers in charge of the Cali- 

 fornia and Colorado divisions, contains sev- 

 eral special reports by scientific men at- 

 tached to the survey, among which we may 

 mention, as possessing a direct popular in- 

 terest, reports by Dr. Loew on alkaline 

 lakes and mineral springs in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, and on the physical and agricultural 

 features of the same region ; a report by 

 Dr. Yarrow on ethnological researches made 

 near Santa Barbara ; an analysis by A. S. 

 Gatschetof eleven Indian dialects ; last, but 

 by no means least, Lieutenant Bergland's 

 report on the operations of a party com- 

 missioned to determine the feasibihty of 

 diverting the Colorado River for purposes 

 of irrigation. 



Precursory Notes on American Insectiv- 

 orous Mammals. By Dr. Elliott Coues. 

 (From Hayden's "Reports.") Pp. 22. 

 Washington: Government Printing-Of- 

 fice. 



The insectivorous mammals here de- 

 scribed belong to two families, namely : 

 Talpidw, or moles, and Soricidce, or shrews. 

 Of moles the author recognizes four good 

 genera as existing in America, namely: 

 Scalops, Scapanus, Condylura, and Uroiri- 

 chus. Urotrichus is the only one of the 

 four known to be common to both hemi- 

 spheres. Of European genera of Soricidce 

 only one, Sorex, is known to occur in Amer- 

 ica ; Marina is the most characteristic 

 American genus. The third and last of the 

 American genera is JVeosorex. 



Report of the Philadelphia Board of 

 Health for the Year 1875. Pp. 351. 



We have specially to commend this vol- 

 ume for the many neat graphic charts which 

 it contains. Statistical tables are always 

 dry and confusing, but when they are cast 



