Makch 10, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



375 



David Eugene Smith, Ph.D., State Normal School, 

 Brockport, N. Y. 



It is announced that the government has 

 compiled a History of the Territory of Alaska, 

 bringing the explorations made by army officers 

 up to date and including an elaborate descrip- 

 tion of the physical resources of the Territory. 

 The compilation when published will make a 

 large octavo volume of about 500 printed pages. 

 The material was supplied, by the War Depart- 

 ment under the direction of Assistant Secretary 

 Meiklejohn, to the Senate. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



General Physwlogy. M.-VX Veewokn. Translated 

 from tlie second German edition and edited by 

 Feederic S. Lee. New York and London, The 

 Maomillan Company. 1899. Pp. xvi + 615. 64.00. 



L'audition et ses organ^s. M. E. Gelle. Paris, Al- 

 can. 1899. Pp. 326. 



La Ceramique aneienne et moderne. E. Guignet and 

 Edouaed Gaeniee. Paris, Alcan. 1899. Pp. 

 311. 



The Theory of the Leisure Class : an Economic Study in 

 the Evolution of Institutions. Thoksteiij Veblen". 

 New York and London, The Macmillan Company. 

 1898. Pp. vii4-400. $2.00. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The American Mathematical Society is ac- 

 tively pushing the plans for tlie publication of 

 its Transactions, and it is probable that the 

 first number will appear in January next. A 

 committee, consisting of Messrs. T. S. Fiske, 

 R. S. Woodward, E. H. Moore, Maxime Bocher 

 and James Pierpont has been appointed to se- 

 cure the necessary financial guarantees. Sub- 

 scriptions of one hundred dollars annually for 

 a term of five years have already been pledged 

 by representatives and friends of each of the 

 following institutions : Chicago University, Co- 

 lumbia University, Yale University and Bryn 

 Mawr College. Other pledges are anticipated 

 and the plan is already assured of success. 



The Journal of Geology, Vol. 7, No. 1, for Jan- 

 uary and February, contains the following 

 papers : 



Frank Leverett : ' The Lower Kapids of the 

 Mississippi River,' pp. 1-20. The writer dis- 

 cusses the abandonment by the Mississippi 

 River of its pre glacial channel just above Keo- 

 kuk, la., and the production of the newer and 



more contracted channel, in which are the rap- 

 ids. The Kewatin ice sheet and its drift are re- 

 garded as the principal cause. 



H. B. Kiimmel : ' The Newark Rocks of New 

 Jersey and New York,' pp. 23-53. The writer 

 divides the strata under consideration into the 

 Stockton, Lockatong, Brunswick and Trap for- 

 mations. Their distribution, character, folding 

 and faulting, and the conditions prevailing dur- 

 ing their formation, are then discussed. 



Henry S. Washington : ' The Petrographical 

 Province of Essex County, Mass.,' II., pp. 53- 

 64. The paper continues one that was begun in 

 the last number. It describes, with analyses, the 

 essexites, diorites, quartz-augite-diorites, por- 

 phyritic diorites and gabbros. 



J. A. Udden: 'The Sweetland Creek Beds,' pp. 

 65-79. The beds are chiefly shale, and lie be- 

 tween the Cedar Valley Limestone below and 

 the Coal Measures above, in Muscatine county, 

 la. Fossils indicate an Upper Devonian Age. 



G. H. Squier : ' Studies in the Driftless Region 

 of Wisconsin,' pp. 79-83. One glaciated boulder 

 has been found in a valley within the driftless 

 region. 



W. N. Logan : ' A Discussion and Correlation 

 of certain Subdivisions of the Colorado Forma- 

 tion,' pp. 83-92. The paper discusses and cor- 

 relates the subdivisions of this formation in the 

 Kansas, Colorado, Black Hills and Iowa-Ne- 

 braska areas. 



Editorials and reviews complete the number. 



The leading article in the American Naturalist 

 for February, is by Dr. W. H. Dall, and dis- 

 cusses ' The Proposed University of the United 

 States and its possible Relations to Scientific 

 Bureaus of the Government.' Dr. Arthur 

 Hollick continues the consideration of ' The 

 Relation between Forestry and Geology in New 

 Jersey, ' this paper giving ' The Historical De- 

 velopment of the Flora,' concluding that the 

 gradual extinction of the gymnosperm type is 

 indicated. Professors J. H. Comstock and J. 

 G. Needham also continue the subject of ' The 

 Wings of Insects,' the chapter being devoted 

 to the specialization of wings by addition as 

 illustrated by the venation of the wings of 

 Ephemerida. Under the title of ' The Pene- 

 plain : a Review ' Dr. R. A. Daly considers at 

 length Professor Tarr's objections to the exist- 



