REVIEWS. ' 341 



mon. In texture they vary from close grained, compact and granular to 

 coarsely crystalline. 



In spite of the large quantity and good quality of much of this 

 marble, very little of it has been utilized and practically none of it 

 has been shipped for outside consumption. The country is only very 

 sparsely settled, and this fact doubtless accounts for the limited local 

 use of the marble ; while the lack of shipments to outside localities is 

 explained by the want of transportation facilities, the ignorance of the 

 existence of this marble among those who use such materials, and by 

 the fact that many people have obtained a bad impression of the stone 

 in general on account of a certain very poor grade of Arkansas marble 

 used in building at Eureka Springs. The whole marble region is des- 

 titute of railroads, except at Batesville on the eastern end, and Eureka 

 Springs on the western end, so that the use of a poor grade of this 

 marble at a much visited locality like the latter place, was an unfortun- 

 ate occurrence. The present volume will, therefore, do much good 

 in removing these several difficulties. It will show some of the bene- 

 fits to be derived by those who will introduce railroads into this coun- 

 try, which, indeed, is full of other resources besides its marble ; it will 

 bring the marble to the attention of builders and architects and all 

 others interested in ornamental and structural materials ; and it will 

 also tend to overcome the bad impression given by the use of an 

 inferior marble at Eureka Springs. Even without further railway facil- 

 ities, the marble, as shown by Mr. Hopkins, could be cheaply shipped 

 by water on the White River. 



The chapter on " Carboniferous Limestones South of the Boston 

 Mountains," is by Mr. J. H. Means, and is a careful discussion of the 

 subject involved. 



In' conclusion, it may be said that the volume, besides containing 

 a full discussion of the subject of marbles and other limestones, also 

 gives much information on the geology of North Arkansas, and repre- 

 sents a large amount of careful geological work. The report is of 

 much scientific and economic value, and reflects great credit on both 

 Mr. Hopkins, through whose labors the great amount of work repre- 

 sented in the volume and the accompanying maps has been accom- 

 plished, and on the State Geologist, Dr. Branner, by whose liberal and 

 broad minded policy, as well as by whose kindly interest in all inves- 

 tigations carried on under his supervision, such work is possible. 



R. A. F. Penrose, Jr. 



