568 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ilethods, Wrinkles, and Practical Hints for the 

 Houseliold and the Shop. New York: The In- 

 dustrial Publication Company. Pp. 164. a5 

 cents. 



Genesis I.-II. : An Essay on the Bible Narra- 

 tive of Creation. By Augustus R. Grote, A.M. 

 New York : Asa K. Butts. 1880. Pp. 82. 50 

 cents. 



Theology and Mythology: An Inquiry into 

 the Claims of Bibliciil Inspiration and the Su- 

 pernatural Element of Religion. By Alfred H. 

 O'Donoiihne. New York : Charles P. Somerby. 

 1880. Pp.194. 



The Art of Cooking : A Series of Practical 

 Lessons. By Matilda Lees Dods, of the South 

 Kensinyton School of Cookery. Edited by Hen- 

 rietta de Conde Sherman. New York : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. 18S0. Pp. 226. $1.25. 



The Youn£;er Edda; also called Snorre's 

 Edda, or the Prose Edda. With an Introduction, 

 Notes, Vocabulary, and Index. By Rasmus B. 

 Anderson, Professor of the Scandinavian Lan- 

 guages in the University of Wisconsin, etc. 

 Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. 1880. Pp. 302. 

 $2. 



Report of the Director of the New York Me- 

 teorological Observatory Department of Public 

 Parks, City of New York, for the Year ending 

 December 31, 1878. Illustrated. New York, IStg. 

 Pp. 70. 



ZoSlogy for Students and General Readers. 

 By A. S. Packard, Jr., M. D., Ph D. With nu- 

 merous Illustrations. New York : Henry Holt 

 & Co. 1879. Pp. 719. $3. 



POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



Geology of the Far West.— Last summer 

 Professor Geikie, of the University of Edin- 

 burgh, came over here to study the geology 

 of om- Western Territories, the i-emarkable 

 peculiarities of which have excited much 

 interest abroad ; and he has recently made 

 his explorations the subject of a very in- 

 teresting lecture before his class. From a 

 summary of the discourse, published in 

 " Nature," we gather the following instruc- 

 tive particulars: Professor Geikie had three 

 objects in view in the expedition : 1. To 

 study the effects of atmospheric and river 

 erosion upon the surface of the land ; 2. 

 To mark the relation which the structure 

 of the rocks underneath bore to the form 

 of the surface ; and, 3. To watch some of 

 the last phases of volcanic action. In cross- 

 ing the prairies toward the Rocky Moun- 

 tains he noted the singular fact that their 

 surface was " veneered " with a thin coat- 

 ing of pinkish, fine-grained sand, its color 

 being due to small pieces of fresh feldspar. 

 It was clear that this mineral, as well as 

 fragments of quartz and topaz found with 

 it, did not belong to the strata on which 

 they lay. In going west, the grains of sand, 



getting coarser, assumccl the form of dis- 

 tinct pebbles, and on reaching the moun- 

 tains became huge blocks and bowlders, 

 evidently derived from the heights beyond. 

 The name, "Rocky Mountains," the Pro- 

 fessor regards as singularly misapplied. On 

 most maps of Xorth America a continuous 

 line of lofty ridge is represented as extending 

 down the axis of the continent, and marked 

 " Rocky Mountains." No such ridge, how- 

 ever, is to be found. The great plateau 

 had been wrinkled by numberless meridio- 

 nal folds, which, dying out, have been re- 

 placed by others. Some of these folds 

 form mountain-ranges with wide basins be- 

 tween them. It is, however, possible to cross 

 the axis of the continent without climbing 

 over mountains of any kind, and the Union 

 Pacific Railroad follows one of these natu- 

 ral routes. So little did the landscape sug- 

 gest great altitudes that at an elevation of 

 eight thousand feet a wooden placard had 

 been erected, bearing the title " Summit of 

 the Rocky Mountains." Going westward to 

 Denver, the Professor halted on the bor- 

 ders of the great mountain-range that forms 

 the bulwarks of the parks of Colorado. 

 These crests of crystalline rock have been 

 forced up like a great wedge through the 

 cretaceous and tertiary strata of the prai- 

 ries, carrying the latter up with them in a 

 grandly picturesque curve along their flanks. 

 An excursion into some of the mountain 

 gorges or canons brought to light the source 

 of the pink feldspar sand of the prairie; 

 great masses of pink granite, gray gneiss, 

 and feldspar form the core of tbe moun- 

 tains ; these are visibly crumbling into the 

 same kind of pink sand and gravel. The 

 mountains have been covered with glaciers 

 which have flowed out into the plains, and 

 there shed their huge horseshoe-shaped mo- 

 raines. Having crossed the watershed of 

 the continent. Professor Geikie struck west- 

 ward into the Uintah Mountains, one of the 

 few ranges in that region that has an east 

 and west direction. It forms one of the 

 most remarkable elevations in North Amer- 

 ica. Unlike the other mountainous high 

 grounds it possesses no great central core 

 of crystalline azoic rocks, but consists of a 

 vast flattened dome of red sandstones, dip- 

 ping steeply down beneath mesozoic rocks 

 on either flank. One feature of surpassing 



