4IO 



The National Geographic Magazine 



was broken up by streams flowing off 

 the eastern slope. The effect of this 

 erosion is very perceptible in New Mex- 

 ico and Colorado, and is gradually eat- 

 ing away the portions that remain. 



In The Relation of Sparrows to Agri- 

 culture, by S. D. Judd, Ph. D., are 

 given the results of a careful study 

 of the value of these birds to the farmer 

 and agriculturist. The report is pub- 

 lished by the Biological Survey as Bul- 

 letin no. 15, prepared under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. C. Hart Merriam. Sparrows 

 are notorious seed-eaters ; but as we 

 have not positively known whether 

 they preferred the seeds of weeds or of 

 useful plants, it has been impossible to 

 state definitely whether they injured 

 or helped the farmer. An examination 

 of the stomachs of 4,273 sparrows has 

 shown, however, that sparrows feed 

 chiefly on the seeds of noxious weeds, 

 and are therefore of economic value. 



Dr. Charles H. Townsend, of the U. S. 



Fish Commission, is the compiler and 

 editor of a volume, published by the 

 Commission, giving the dredging and 

 other records of the U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion steamer Albatross, with a bibliog- 

 raphy relative to the work of the ves- 

 sel. The author accompanied most of 

 the cruises of the vessel as naturalist 

 during the last fifteen years. The vol- 

 ume gives the data of 1,786 hauls of the 

 dredge. The dredging covers areas ex- 

 tending from the banks of Newfound- 

 land, along both coasts of North and 

 South America, to Bering Sea, with a 

 few limited areas in the tropical Pacific 

 and between Japan and Kamchatka. 

 The deepest haul was 4,173 fathoms. 



The Report of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution for 1900 forms 

 a handsome volume of over 700 pages, 

 with 100 full-page plates and maps. It 

 consists of two parts — the report of the 



Secretary to the Board of Regents, which 

 is a summary of the work of the Insti- 

 tution in all its departments during the 

 past year, and a general appendix, deal- 

 ing mainly with the advance of knowl- 

 edge in the different fields of science 

 during the nineteenth centur}^ In the 

 latter part of the report Mr. Langley has 

 included some forty papers summarizing 

 the century's progress in astronomy, 

 aeronautics, chemistry, physics, elec- 

 tricity, geology, geography, biology, 

 and in special lines of study, as malaria 

 and yellow fever. Some of the papers 

 are reprints from memoirs previously 

 published, while others are contribu- 

 tions specially prepared for the report. 

 The volume forms the most important 

 compendium that has yet been pub- 

 lished of what man has done during the 

 nineteenth century to advance knowl- 

 edge. 



The most notable memoir in the vol- 

 ume is entitled " The New Spectrum." 

 In this paper Mr. Langley presents a 

 brief summary of his discoveries during 

 twenty years made possible by the in- 

 vention of the bolometer. Twenty years 

 ago to register the change of tempera- 

 ture of one ten-thousandth of a degree 

 Centigrade was considered remarkable. 

 Today, by means of the bolometer, 

 which has been continuously perfected, 

 it is possible to register one one-hun- 

 dred-millionth part of a degree. 



The immense field of knowledge that 

 is opened by such a study of the sun's 

 heat is appalling. Mr. L.angley hints 

 that it may be possible to foretell the sea- 

 sons, which write their coming upon the 

 records of the spectrum. He concludes 

 the memoir with these words: ' * We are 

 yet, it is true, far from able to prophesy 

 as to coming years of plenty and fam- 

 ine ; but it is hardly too much to say 

 that recent studies of others, as well as 

 of the writer, strongly point in the direc- 

 tion of some such future power of pre- 

 diction." 



