GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



The Century Atlas of the World. Pre- 

 pared under the superintendence of 

 Benjamin E. Smith. New York : 

 The Century Co., 1899. $7.50. 

 The Century Atlas, which was first 

 published in 1897, and followed by a 

 second edition in 1899, has doubtless 

 been consulted at various times by ever}' 

 reader of this Magazine. A review or 

 notice of the Atlas would now be super- 

 fluous. The publishers, however, have 

 made such a generous proposition to the 

 members of the National Geographic 

 Society, and to the members of one or 

 two other scientific bodies in the United 

 States, that the great value of the work 

 should again be emphasized. 



The iVtlas was originally published as 

 a separate volume to enable subscribers 

 to the Century Dictionary to complete 

 their sets. Of the edition a few hun- 

 dred copies remain. These the pub- 

 lishers have offered to members of the 

 National Geographic Society at one-half 

 the original price ($7.50 instead of $15). 

 The Atlas will not be sold separately as 

 soon as these copies are disposed of, and 

 can then be obtained only by purchasing 

 the entire set of 10 volumes that com- 

 prise "The Century Dictionary and 

 Cyclopedia." 



The Atlas contains 117 double-page 

 maps, 138 inset maps, and 43 histor- 

 ical and astronomical maps. There are 

 nearly 200,000 references to places in 

 the indexes. To each of the principal 

 States two or three maps are allotted, 

 showing all the rivers^ lakes, and hills 

 in great detail. Maps of the large cities 

 with their environs are presented, and 

 the harbors of great seaports are also 

 clearly charted. In its foreign maps 

 the Century Atlas excels, the maps of 

 China and the Far Kast being especially 

 valuable. 



Moore's Meteorologfical Almanac and 

 Weather Guide. By Prof. Willis h. 

 Moore, I^L. D., Chief of United States 

 Weather Bureau. With illustrations 

 and 32 charts, pp. 128. Chicago and 

 New York : Rand, McNally & Co., 

 i9or. $0.25. , 



Unlike the traditional almanac that is 

 crammed with queer statements and 

 queer dates, this little book is a reser- 

 voir of reliable information for "the 

 farmer, the horticulturist, the shipper, 

 the mariner, the merchant, the tourist, 

 the health-seeker, and for those who 

 wish to learn the art of weather fore- 

 casting." 



Perhaps the most interesting and valu- 

 able chapter is that on ' ' the construc- 

 tion and the use of the weather map," 

 which explains how an amateur, by 

 consulting the government daily weather 

 chart, can follow the track of storms, and 

 with considerable accuracy forecast the 

 weather. The difference Ipetween the 

 cyclone and the tornado, terms usually 

 used as synonymous, is emphasized in 

 another chapter. " The cyclone is a 

 horizontally revolving disk of air cover- 

 ing an area 1,000 to 2,000 miles in diam- 

 eter, while the tornado is a revolving 

 mass of air of only 100 to 1,000 feet in 

 diameter, and is simply an incident of 

 the cyclone,, " Prof. Moore states, under 

 the subject of " Protection against 

 Frost," that, in his opinion, with ap- 

 proved appliances, the fruit districts of 

 California and the orange groves of 

 Florida could secure material protection 

 against frost. Other instructive chap- 

 ters are : " IvOng-range Forecasts," 

 "The Galveston Hurricane of 1900," 

 ' ' Loss of Life and Property by Light- 

 ning," " Weather Bureau Kites," and 

 " Temperatures Injurious to Food Pro" 

 ducts." 



