446 SOME NE IF BOOKS [decembeb 



detail and the student for less. Hence the publication of the present " Elements " 

 which is adapted to the busy student, while further editions of the Lehrbuch 

 will be specialised for his teachers. Beyond that some paragraphs have in- 

 corporated recent results, there is little to distinguish this new volume from its 

 predecessors, but it is shorter and perhaps simpler, and more emphasis is given 

 to the summaries. All must wish it good speed. 



CO-OPERATIVE GEOGRAPHY. 



The International Geography. By Seventy Authors. Edited by Hugh 

 Robert Mill, D.Sc, etc. Pp. xix. + 1088. London : George Newnes, 

 Limited, 1899. Price 16s. 



The method of compiling a hand-book of geography by the collaboration of 

 a number of authors, each of whom is a native of the country he describes, or 

 has had especial opportunities of making himself thoroughly conversant with 

 the subject of which he treats, has self-evident advantages. It has, however, 

 its drawbacks. Authors are apt to give undue prominence to their particular 

 theories, and to entertain different views as to what details should be included, 

 with the consequence that the book is lacking in uniformity. For the con- 

 tributors to this work the editor has drawn up a set of rules, setting forth the 

 heads of information and the order in which they shoidd be discussed. But 

 these rules have not always been followed. In some cases the geology has not 

 been touched upon, in others internal communications have received little 

 attention, and boundaries are sometimes clearly denned where they are definitely 

 fixed and marked on maps, while no mention is made of others which are still 

 subjects of dispute. 



Two or three instances will suffice to show how the division of labour has 

 resulted in a want of unity in the whole. On p. 16 it is stated that Thales 

 invented gnomonic projection, and the reader will naturally turn — in vain — to 

 the preceding chapter to find out what that projection is. The writer of the 

 chapter on Mathematical Geography has evidently had some difficulty in com- 

 pressing all he had to say into the space allotted, and could not foresee that his 

 colleague would mention a projection now used only on charts for Great Circle 

 sailing. The apparent antagonism contained in the sentences, " Further north 

 the Parana takes the name of Paraguay " (p. 850), and " They (the Parana and 

 Paraguay) both rise in Brazil," needs only a feAv words of explanation. Another 

 case is of more importance, the two sentences being contradictory ; on p. 423 

 Ave are told that " no definite geomorphic line divides them (the islands of the 

 archipelago between Asia and Australia) into an Asiatic and an Australian 

 group. ' Wallace's Line ' ... is only a faunal boundary " ; and on p. 533 we 

 find, " This line, therefore, clearly follows what, in very recent geological times, 

 was the shore of the continent of Asia " — a boundary still marked by a belt of 

 deep water. 



Other small discrepancies might be pointed out, and are to be expected in 

 so comprehensive a work on its first appearance, and considering the vast 

 amount of labour involved in gathering together so large a staff of collaborators, 

 providing for the translation of articles written in foreign languages, and in the 

 general supervision of the whole work. 



Nevertheless, a large measure of success has been attained, the individual 

 chapters are on the whole of a high order, many of them being really 

 excellent, more particularly those from the pens of professed geographers, who 

 are accustomed to regard a country from all points of view, and treat the 

 physical features, geology and climate, in connection with the occupations of its 

 inhabitants. Professor W. M. Davis' description of the United States deserves 

 especial mention, and the editor's chapter on the British Isles has also great 

 merit, apart from one or two slips in the historical paragraphs. 



