January 7, 1909] 



NA TURE 



Rt-i;;u\liiig the arrangement of the maps it is unfor- 

 iLinate that some method more in afjreement with the 

 |iriniiples of geographical development has not been 

 fillowed; why the distribution of telegraphs and tele- 

 phiiiies should precede that of temperature and rainfall 

 is not easy to understand. In a few cases also the 

 maps might have been improved; it is to be regretted, 

 lor example, that some other method than that chosen 

 was not adopted to show the physical features of the 

 land, at least in the better-known parts of the country. 

 i ' mark everything' above 2000 feet in height in one 

 three shades of brown results in a map which is 

 .. liilcdly w.'uiting in plasticity. The map showing 

 drainage areas would also have been rendered more 

 <.-ITective had it been printed in different colours. 



The greatest defect, however, in this part of the 

 atlas is the absence of a few maps illustrating and 

 explaining the development of agriculture in Mani- 

 toba, Saskatchewan, and .\lberta. The value of the 

 hook would have been enhanced by the introduction 

 (if some maps similar to those which accompanied 

 I'rof. Mavor's report to the Board of Trade on wheat- 

 growing areas in Canada, showing the regions in 

 which the cultivation of wheat is considered possible, 

 the districts in which it is at present grown, the lands 

 u hich have so far been occupied, &c. 



Considerable attention has been paid to meteorologv, 

 and some valuable information is given. Besides the 

 isothermal charts, which show temperature reduced 

 lo sea-level, and are therefore not particularlv 

 illuminating at first sight, in the case of Canada there 

 ;ire several interesting maps showing the number ot 

 d.iys during the year in which the temperature is 

 above _i2°, 40°, 50°, 60°, and 70° respectively. It is 

 1,1 be hoped that in the course of time it will be 

 possible to verify and extend this information, which is 

 likely to be of great value in Canada, where it is 

 directly connected with important agricultural pro- 

 blems. Unfortunately, we are not told over what 

 period the observations have extended. Space will onlv 

 permit us to remark that among the remaining maps 

 there are several interesting ones showing the inter- 

 national boundary at various places, and several 

 which show the railways of Canada, completed or pro- 

 jected, along with the sphere of influence of each 

 system. To many of the maps also are appended 

 useful tables of statistics. 



Th.-it part of the atlas which is occupied bv dia- 

 grams contains a great deal of valuable information, 

 information of a kind, however, which in the case of 

 .'I country like Canada begins to be out of date even 

 before the publication of the work in which it is con- 

 taiiK<l. Nevertheless, it suffices to show that within 

 nrent years the progress of Canada has been, on the 

 \\liiik-, steady and continuous, even although the com- 

 plete story of its development is not told here. A few 

 ex.imples will illustrate this. The occupied land has 

 increased from 36,000,000 acres (of which 17,000,000 

 acres were " improved ") in 1871 to 63,000,000 acres 

 (of which 30,000,000 acres were " improved ") in iqoi. 

 The wheat area has been largely extended, though we 

 miss a few diagrams which would have made the 

 extent of this increase visible at a glance. 

 NO. 2045. VOL. -q] 



The exploitation of the mineral wealth of Canada 

 has increased very rapidly within the last twenty 

 years, and is still increasing, notwithstanding the 

 greatly decreased amount of gold which has been pro- 

 duced within the last few years. Regarding the forest 

 products of the country, further information would 

 have been welcome, and the same is true with regard 

 to manufactures. The figures and diagrams which 

 are given under this last head show that the capital 

 invested had increased from 80,000,000 dollars in 1871 

 to 450,000,000 dollars in 1901, while the number of em- 

 ployees had risen from 180,000 to 313,000 during the 

 same period. (The diagrams, however, do not make it 

 clear how far these figures are comparable.) The 

 chief manufacturing province is Ontario, while 

 Quebec takes second place, and the remaining pro- 

 vinces are of less importance. 



The most striking fact brought out by the series of 

 diagrams on the foreign trade of the country is the 

 extent to which the United States is taking the place 

 of Great Britain as the chief importer into Canada. 

 While Canada still sends more of her goods to this 

 country than she does to the States, the latter country 

 supplies her with more than twice the amount that 

 Britain does. The latest figures given are for 1904, 

 but since then the advance of the United States has 

 been continued. 



A number of diagrams deal with population in 

 various aspects. One of these shows the distribution 

 of males and females in the different provinces, and 

 incidentally throws light on the conditions of life in 

 different parts of the country. In British Columbia 

 and the Territories, men outnumber women consider- 

 .ibly ; in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta to a less 

 extent, and elsewhere only very slightly. The death- 

 rate in all the provinces is less than the average for 

 the British Isles, except in the case of Quebec, where 

 it is higher. In 1891 Quebec was the most illiterate 

 of all the provinces, but the large immigration from 

 the continent of Europe during the following ten 

 years has led to that position being taken bv Alberta 

 ;ind Saskatchewan. 



There is much in the atlas which it is impossible to 

 touch upon in this review. We can only express our 

 gratification that the Canadian Government has seen 

 its way to publish so important and valuable a work, 

 and hope that the Governments of other countries may 

 follow in its steps. 



A-NIMAL HISTOLOGY. 

 A Text-book of the Principles of Animal Histology. 

 By Ulric Dahlgren and Wm. A. Kepner. Pp. xiii + 

 515. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; London: 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price i6s. net. 



iN man\' respects Messrs. Dahlgren and Kepner's 

 " Principles of Animal Histology " may be re- 

 garded as a decided advance on the current text-book. 

 It is no mere compilation ; its method of treatment 

 is novel, the subject-matter embraces a considerable 

 amount of new and original work, and it presents a 

 wider view of histological study than any previous 

 treatise on the subject. 



The scheme of the book is the studv of structure 



