Geographic Literature 



445 



that so at length their preservation and 

 right use might be made sure." The 

 following paragraph, quoted from Mr. 

 Muir, describes the rapid change that 

 has taken place by the hand of man : 



"Only thirt}^ years ago, the great 

 Central Valley of California, five hun- 

 dred miles long and fifty miles wide, 

 was one bed of golden and purple 

 flowers. Now it is ploughed and pas- 

 tured out of existence, gone forever, — 

 scarce a memory of it left in fence cor- 

 ners and along the bluffs of the streams. 

 The gardens of the Sierra, also, and the 

 noble forests in both the reserved and 

 unreserved portions are sadly hacked 

 and trampled, notwithstanding the rug- 

 gedness of the topography, — all except- 

 ing those of the parks guarded by a few 

 soldiers. In the noblest forests of the 

 world, the ground, once divinely beauti- 

 ful, is desolate and repulsive, like a face 

 ravaged by disease. This is true also 

 of many other Pacific Coast and Rocky 

 Mountain valleys and forests. The same 

 fate, sooner or later, is awaiting them all, 

 unless awakening public opinion comes 

 forward to stop it. Even the great 

 deserts in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and 

 New Mexico, which offer so little to 

 attract settlers, and which a few years 

 ago pioneers were afraid of, as places of 

 desolation and death, are now taken as 

 pastures at the rate of one or two square 

 miles per cow, and of course their plant 

 treasures are passing awaj^, — the deli- 

 cate abronias, phloxes, gilias, etc. 

 Only a few of the bitter, thorny, un- 

 bitable shrubs are left, and the sturdj^ 

 cactuses that defend themselves with 

 bayonets and spears." 



Commercial Geogfraphy. By Cyrus C. 



Adams With illustrations and maps. 



New York: D. Appleton & Co. 



In breadth of treatment and system- 

 atic plan this book is equaled by no 

 commercial geography yet published. 

 Mr. Adams is an eminent expert on the 

 editorial staff of the New York Sun 



and has spent many years studying the 

 problems of commercial geography. He 

 has successfully aimed in the present 

 volume to keep constantly before the 

 reader the geographic influences affect- 

 ing commerce. Very few statistics are 

 given, their place being taken by dia- 

 grams and charts. Instead of grouping 

 the different products under the tra- 

 ditional heads of animal, vegetable, and 

 mineral commodities, Mr. Adams has 

 treated each product in connection with 

 that country in whose commerce it is 

 most prominent. For instance, cotton 

 is discussed under the United States, 

 which produces three-fourths of the 

 raw cotton of the world. 



The book is written in a simple and 

 entertaining style that commends it to 

 every one. The volume is especially 

 fortunate at the present time, when the 

 people of the United States are thinking 

 about and studying the problems of 

 commerce as perhaps they have never 

 done before. One who wishes to re- 

 fresh his mind as to what the different 

 nations have to offer each other could 

 not do better than read Mr. Adams' 

 "Commercial Geograph}^" The one 

 criticism that might be offered of this 

 scholarly work is that the value of the 

 book suffers because it contains no refer- 

 ences of places where the general reader 

 may look for further information. A 

 brief bibliograph}'- would add immensel}^ 

 to the convenience of the book. 



Seen in Germany, By Ray Stannard 

 Baker. With illustrations. New 

 York: McClure, Phillips & Co. $2. 

 This is an interesting sketch of Ger- 

 man life among all classes. A chapter 

 gives an account of the German work- 

 ingman — of his daily life, his wife, his 

 food, his problems, and his relations 

 with his government. The German 

 workingman is supposed to work 1 1 

 hours a day and often longer, and for his 

 long day receives from one-third to one- 

 half the wages of an American, work- 



