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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



lowering the water to the Provo level. A 

 chapter is devoted to the lake sediments 

 found within the Bonneville shore-line, after 

 which a connected history of the Bonneville 

 basin is given, and a parallel is drawn be- 

 tween this and the history of Lake Lahon- 

 tan. The relation of volcanic eruption to 

 the lake history is treated separately, as is 

 also the effect of movements of the earth's 

 crust in deforming the shore-lines. The 

 volume ends with a discussion of the Equus 

 fauna, which is not found within the limits 

 of Lake Bonneville, but which is connected 

 with the lacustrine history introduced into 

 an earlier chapter. There is an appendix on 

 Altitudes and their Determination, by Al- 

 bert L. Webster, and two on geodetic prob- 

 lems connected with the ancient lake, by 

 R. S. Woodward. The volume is liberally 

 illustrated with full-page, double-page, and 

 many smaller views, maps, diagrams, etc., 

 many of the maps being colored, and there 

 is a folded map of the lake, about three feet 

 by two, which is also printed in colors. 



A Historical Geography of TnE British 

 Colonies. By C. P. Lucas. Vol. II. Ox- 

 ford, England : Clarendon Press ; New 

 York : Macmillan & Co. Pp. 343. Price, 

 $1.90. 



Predominant importance is given in this 

 book to the American colonies, in which 

 British colonization began, and which are 

 the most extensive ; and they are historical- 

 ly, statistically, and comparatively present- 

 ed in tables and diagrams. A distinction is 

 drawn between the North American and the 

 West Indian colonies, while the Bermudas 

 and the Falkland Islands lie outside of both. 

 The North American colonies, though they 

 include islands, are continental ; while the 

 West Indian, though they extend to the con- 

 tinent, are, on the whole, a collection of isl- 

 and dependencies. In Canada and New- 

 foundland the drawbacks to colonization 

 have been ice and snow ; in the West Indies 

 they have been tropical heat and hurricanes. 

 In the Northern colonies nearly all the in- 

 habitants are of European origin; in the 

 West Indies blacks predominate. There are 

 other historical as well as racial distinc- 

 tions, but one point the two groups have in 

 common: "They are settlements, and not 

 mere dependencies. The heat of the West 



Indies has not prevented the British race 

 from colonizing the islands, and, though the 

 negro race has long been greatly superior in 

 numbers to the white, the history of an isl- 

 and like Barbados shows that even in the 

 tropics the connection between Great Brit- 

 ain and America has been that of permanent 

 settlement rather than of passing trade or 

 foreign rule." The Bermudas, the West 

 Indian colonies, those of the South Ameri- 

 can coast, the Falkland Islands, and South 

 Georgia are described, historically and geo- 

 graphically, and the descriptions are illus- 

 trated by good though small maps. 



The relative merits of the incandescent 

 electrical light and some other lights that are 

 suggested are discussed by Prof. E. L. Nich- 

 ols, of Cornell University, on Tlie Artificial 

 Light of the Future. The author finds that 

 there are limitations to the life and usefulness 

 of the incandescent light and of the arc light 

 that are not likely to be overcome. Inquir- 

 ing for a better light, he finds that of mag- 

 nesium superior in quality and efficiency to 

 any other as yet known. It affords, weight 

 for weight, thirty times the light obtained 

 from gas, with the development of much 

 less heat, and gives the nearest approach to 

 sunlight in whiteness ; while in illuminating 

 power each unit of it must be regarded as 

 the equivalent of rather more than l - 25 

 units of gaslight. It has a quality believed 

 to be the same as that named by Prof. 

 Wiedemann luminescence, an effect, akin 

 to phosphorescence, fluorescence, etc., of a 

 different class of molecular vibrations from 

 those which cause incandescence, to which 

 importance is attached, enabling it to radi- 

 ate light without heat. A similar quality 

 belongs to the oxide of zinc, the properties 

 of which as an illuminating substance are 

 also studied. 



From Wm. Paul Gerhard, consulting en- 

 gineer for sanitary works, three monograph 

 pamphlets are received, the nature and 

 value of which are indicated by their titles. 

 They are Architecture and Sanitation, in 

 which the advantages of employing a sani- 

 tary engineer for building-work related to 

 his sphere are insisted upon ; Notes on Gas- 

 lighting and Gas-fitting, which abounds in 

 practical suggestions ; and the Disposal of 

 Sewage of Isolated Country Houses, a matter 



