LITERARY NOTICES. 



419 





Climate, by E. W. Hilgard, Professor of 

 Agricultural Chemistry in the University of 

 California, which was published by authority 

 of the Secretary of Agriculture, there are a 

 great many suggestions concerning the ef- 

 fects of temperature and climate upon un- 

 developed soil and upon its physical charac- 

 ter. It does not enter into the remedial pos- 

 sibilities of the question; but at the very 

 opening of the paper Prof. Hilgard makes 

 the interesting and valuable statement that 

 " since soils are the residual product of the 

 action of meteorological agencies upon rocks, 

 it is obvious that there must exist a more or 

 less intimate relation between the soils of a 

 region and the climatic conditions that pre- 

 vail." From this standpoint he discusses 

 the effect of the phenomena. 



At the Marine Biological Laboratory, 

 Woods Holl, Mass., according to the Fifth 

 Annual Report, some important biological 

 discoveries have been made; among them, 

 for the first time in history, the embryologi- 

 cal "feat of tracing the annelid larvae 

 through every stage of development cell by 

 cell" The report explains the purpose and 

 work of the laboratory, and gives schedules 

 of the different courses of instruction, inves- 

 tigation, etc. Several memoirs on amphibian 

 development are in progress by the members 

 of the laboratory, one of which is completed. 

 It covers the whole period of development 

 up to the establishment of the fundamental 

 features of the embryo, including the forma- 

 tion of the egg and the phenomena of fecun- 

 dation. Director Whitman closes his report 

 with an appeal to American lovers of science 

 to assist the managers of the laboratory by 

 providing funds to enable them to extend 

 their space and operations in giving instruc- 

 tion in marine biology. 



In a paper entitled Twenty Years of Prog- 

 ress in the Manufacture of Iron and Steel in 

 the United States, James M. Swank makes an 

 interesting examination of these industries. 

 He gives some statistical comparisons be- 

 tween the productions of Great Britain and 

 the United States, which point to the fact 

 that this country has not only passed her 

 great rival in the production of pig iron, but 

 also in that of steel. In the manufacture of 

 Bessemer steel, ingots, and rails the United 

 States has more than doubled the production 

 of Great Britain, while the latter country still 



holds first place in the manufacture of open- 

 hearth steel. His account of the change 

 from iron to steel in the manufacture of rails 

 is interesting, and shows that iron rails prac- 

 tically ceased to be manufactured in 1892. 

 In a paragraph on the United States tin-plate 

 industry he says, " The new tin-plate industry 

 has made remarkable progress since the new 

 duty went into effect ; " and this he illus- 

 trates by some statistics of its growth. In 

 the summary of his statistical statement? 

 Mr. Swank shows that the United States is 

 now the first of all iron and steel manufac- 

 turing countries. The paper is an extract 

 from the Mineral Resources of the United 

 States, and is published by the Department 

 of the Interior United States Geological 

 Survey. 



Horace V. Winchell, State Geologist of 

 Minnesota, makes a valuable report on the 

 Iron Ores of the Mesabi Range of Lake Su- 

 perior. He claims that the iron mines of 

 this district are the richest " known in the 

 world to-day," and he gives some interesting 

 statistics of the output and probabilities of 

 the Mesabi iron range since its discovery in 

 1890. The report embraces a history of the 

 mining of the district, a list and approxima- 

 tion of the outputs of the mines now opened 

 up, tables of analyses of the Lake Superior 

 ores, and comparisons with those of other 

 States and of Europe. The information con- 

 cerning the methods of prospecting, sam- 

 pling, testing, transportation, etc., in use at 

 this range will be read with interest. 



Mr. William Bowker contributes a very 

 useful paper on the relation of fisheries to 

 agriculture. It is entitled The Harvest of 

 the Sea, and was read by him at the winter 

 meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Agri- 

 culture. He makes a strong argument in 

 favor of utilizing the non-edible and un- 

 wholesome fishes that abound in our water? 

 as well as fish refuse for agricultural 

 purposes. He gives some interesting ex- 

 tracts from the " History of Plimoth Planta- 

 tion," showing that as early as 1621 the In- 

 dians were aware of the value of fish as a 

 fertilizer, and he calls attention to the re- 

 markable fact that the word menhaden was 

 applied to the fish of that name by the In- 

 dians because it means " fertilizer, that which 

 manures." Mr. Bowker pooh-poohs the idea 

 that the supply of fish can be measurably 



