REVIEWS 63 



convincing arguments for national control, and for protection from 

 speculative monopoly. 



The author lays much stress upon the fact that problems arise from 

 irrigation that cannot be successfully handled by individuals or even 

 by states. The setting apart of forest lands for the regulation of the 

 water supply; the building of reservoirs for impounding the head- 

 waters of streams; the adjusting of water rights on streams that cross 

 state lines; the establishing of experiment stations ; and the investiga- 

 tion of a wide range of conditions of water supply and the adaptation 

 of crops to climate and soil — these are subjects for an authority which 

 can act in a disinterested way for all concerned. 



As the book is intended for popular reading, it is in no sense a 

 manual, though the practical man will find that fundamental principles 

 have been so clearly stated, and happily illustrated by photographs 

 and diagrams, that he can judge intelligently concerning his own 

 particular conditions, and avoid expenditure on ill-advised schemes. 

 The manner in which the author deals with the questions of artesian 

 water, the building of dams and ditches, the use of windmills as a 

 source of power, the methods of measuring water, and the means of 

 conducting water to land in a great variety of situations, must appeal 

 to the common-sense of every practical farmer. 



Sixty-two plates and ninety-four diagrams admirably supplement 



the lucid text. Among the cartograms are a number that show in a 



striking way the relative size of western states as compared with the 



Atlantic states, and are well calculated to impress the reader with the 



vastness of the area with which the book deals. If the book were 



supplied with definite references to the wide literature of the field, it 



would be of more use to students; but as it is, it furnishes an excellent 



introduction to the subject. 



L. H. Wood. 



Gems atid Gem Minerals. By Oliver Cummings Farrington, 

 Ph.D., Curator of Geology, Field Columbian Museum. Pp. 

 229 + xil. Chicago: A. W. Mumford, 1903. 

 In this book it has manifestly been the intention of the author to 

 make the treatment of the subject as non-technical as possible. At the 

 same time, scientific terms have been used whenever these were neces- 

 sary to give the matter accuracy and definiteness. The subject as a 

 whole has been discussed from the mineralogical standpoint, each gem 

 being considered under the mineral species to which it belongs. Fol- 



