24 



The National Geographic Magazine 



A Duck Farm in the United States 

 Trom "How the World is Fed," by Frank G. Carpenter, Copyright by Mr Carpenter 



.-and Salisbury, is by far the most comprehen- 

 sive book on this subject which has been pub- 

 lished in this country. Its 770 pages evince 

 the importance which physiography has as- 

 sumed among the geologic sciences. The 

 scope of the book may be gained from the 



■ chapter titles, which are as follows: Relief 

 Features, The Work of the Atmosphere, The 

 Work of Ground Water, The Work of Run- 

 ning Water, The Work of Snow and Ice, 

 Lakes and Shores, Vulcanism, Crustal Move- 

 ments, Origin and History of Physiographic 

 Features, Terrestrial Magnetism, Earth Rela- 

 tions, General Conception of the Atmosphere, 



'Constitution of the Atmosphere, Temperature 



• of the Air, The Moisture of the Air, Atmos- 

 pheric Pressure, General Circulation of the 

 Atmosphere, Weather Maps, Climate, General 



■Conceptions of the Ocean, Composition of Sea 

 Water, The Temperature of the Sea, The 

 Movements of Sea-water, The Life of the Sea, 

 Materials of the Sea Bottom, Relations of the 



:Sea to the Rest of the Earth. 



The book is intended primarily for the use 

 of college students, with whose needs its 

 author is eminently familiar. The text state- 



-ments are unusually clear and precise and the 

 707 diagrams and half-tone illustrations are 

 especially well selected. Besides these, there 

 are 26 plates reproducing portions of topo- 

 graphic sheets of the U. S. Geological Survey. 

 Features deserving especial commendation 



rare the unusual amount of attention devoted 



ito the larger relief features of the earth's sur- 



face, the clearness with which the motions and 

 astronomic relations of the earth are set forth, 

 and the directions for topographic map studies 

 at the close of many of the chapters. 



Edson S. Bastin, 

 U. S. Geological Survey. 



A Trip to the Orient. By Robert Ulric 

 Johnson. Pp. 392. SJ4 by 8 inches. Illus- 

 trated. Philadelphia : John C. Winston Co. 

 igo7. 



Mr Jacob gives a very entertaining story of 

 a Mediterranean cruise, his chapters about 

 Constantinople being particularly good. A 

 valuable feature of the book is the large num- 

 ber of illustrations from photographs, there 

 being nearly 200 views in Funchal, Granada, 

 Algiers, Malta, Athens,. Constantinople, Cairo, 

 Jerusalem, Luxor, Naples, and Nice. 



LOWEST POINT IN THE UNITED 

 STATES 



THE United States Geological Sur- 

 vey has just completed a line of 

 spirit levels through Death Valley, Cali- 

 fornia, and, much to the surprise of every 

 one familiar with the region, has ascer- 

 tained that the depth of that area is not 

 so great as was supposed. The final com- 

 putations of the results have not yet been 

 made, but the preliminary figures give 



