ABSTRACTS 



Authors of scientific papers are requested to see that abstracts, preferably 

 prepared and signed by themselves, are forwarded promptly to the editors. Each 

 of the scientific bureaus in Washington has a representative authorized to for- 

 ward such material to this journal and abstracts of official publications should 

 be transmitted through the representative of the bureau in which they originate. 

 The abstracts should conform in length and general style to those appearing in 

 this issue. 



GEOLOGY. — Guidebook of the Western United States, Part A, the 

 Northern Pacific route, with a side trij) to Yellowstone Park. M. 

 R,. Campbell and others. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 611. Pp. 

 212, with maps and illustrations. 1915. (For sale by Superin- 

 tendent of Documents, Washington, D. C; price $1.) 

 The first of a series of handbooks for railway travelers in the Western 

 States, describing the geographj^, geology, history, and natural re- 

 sources of the region traversed by the principal transcontinental 

 routes. The present volume deals with the country along the Northern 

 Pacific Railway from St. Paul to Seattle and along the branch line to 

 Yellowstone Park. 



He is a very unobservant traveler who can cross the Great Plains, 

 the Rocky Mountains, the lava plateau of the Columbia, and the Cas- 

 cade Range, without noting some of the diversities in the color and 

 character of the rocks and the striking differences in the landscape. 

 It is the purpose of this volume to answer some of the questions which 

 these views from the car windows evoke, to tell what the rocks are 

 and how they got there, to explain the eft'ects of earth movements 

 upon them, to show how that conspicuous element in scenery which we 

 call topography is the result of a long succession of geologic events — in 

 brief, to tell the storj^ of the mountains, valleys, and plains. It does 

 not stop there, however. It connects this record of the prehistoric past 

 with the present march of western progress and development by show- 

 ing the relation of geologic processes to natural resources of various 

 kinds; it describes the utihzation of these resources and tells how man 

 has turned them to account since Lewis, and Clark toiled over the route 

 that is now so quickly traversed in luxurious comfort. 



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