May 20, 1898.] 



SCIENGE. 



717 



for the use of miners, prospectors and business 

 men. From its preface we learn tliat ' ' the work 

 is intended merely as a book of reference to be 

 used by the practising miner or man of busi- 

 ness, for whom especially it is intended, as well 

 as by the geologist, metallurgist or mineral- 

 ogist in so far as it may serve their pur- 

 poses. * * * The original intention of the au- 

 thor was to give, in as simple and concise a form 

 -as possible, a description ofthe nature of only the 

 more important of those mineral substances, 

 more frequently referred to as ores or com- 

 pounds, which possess commercial value, indica- 

 ting at the same time means by which they 

 <;ould be identified, and referring very briefly to 

 some of the principal economic uses to which 

 they are put. Upon reflection, however, it 

 seemed advisable* *to insert also a description of 

 a few other minerals which are very frequently 

 met with as common veinstones or as rock con- 

 stituents, although they may possess in them- 

 selves no commercial value." In short, the book 

 is a work on determinative mineralogy in which, 

 however, only the most important compounds 

 are discussed. There is nothing noteworthy in 

 the treatment of its subject-matter, u.nless it be 

 the arrangement of the minerals according to 

 their metallic constituent. Whether this man- 

 ner of arrangement is as good as one based on 

 hardness, density or some other physical pro- 

 perty is at least doubtful. Indeed, it is prob- 

 able the book throughout is too technical for 

 miners, prospectors and business men, though 

 it may easily be of assistance to metallurgists 

 and geologists, more because of its convenient 

 form than because of anything of especial value 

 in its contents. 



The first part of the volume contains a list of 

 atomic weights, statements of the character- 

 istics of the crystal systems, the scale of hard- 

 ness and brief descriptions of the most impor- 

 tant blow-pipe reactions and wet tests for the 

 difierent chemical elements. 



The second part is made up exclusively of 

 tables. The minerals of each metal are listed 

 alphabetically and opposite each is given its 

 chemical composition, a statement of its gen- 

 eral character and its occurrence, a description 

 of its behavior toward reagents, its color, lustre, 

 •etc., and, finally, an account of its uses. In 



three appendices following the lists of minerals 

 is a condensed form of Brush's classification of 

 minerals according to lustre and fusibility, a 

 list of simple tests for the most important chem- 

 ical elements and a brief description of the 

 simpler processes of assaying. 



The book is carefully compiled and is well 

 printed. It is accurate and therefore trust- 

 worthy. Although, as has already been stated, 

 it contains no novel features, it will serve as a 

 convenient companion, because of its handy 

 size, to any one capable of using it. It is the 

 most compact determinative mineralogy in the 

 market. 



W. S. Bayley. 



Colby Univehsity. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 The Journal of Geology for February-March, 

 1898 (Vol. VI., No. 2), contains the following 

 papers : ' Brazilian Evidences on the Genesis 

 of the Diamond,' by Orville A. Derby. The 

 author endeavors to draw a parallel between 

 the geology of the South African Diamonds and 

 of those of Brazil. Three Brazilian localities in 

 Minas Geraes are selected, viz., San Jo^o da 

 Chapada, Grao Mogol and Agua Suja. At 'the 

 first it is uncertain whether the diamonds are 

 derived from phyllites or from contact zones in 

 the phyllites next intrusions of pegmatites, or 

 from the pegmatites. In the second locality 

 they seem to be allothigenic minerals in meta- 

 morphosed elastics. At the third place there 

 are basic intruded rocks, more or less analogous 

 to those at Kimberley, but it is still an open 

 question whether the diamonds have been de- 

 rived from them or from the neighboring 

 schists. Excessive weathering and the pres- 

 ent abandoned condition of the Brazilian mines 

 mask the evidence. ' The Glaciation of North 

 Central Canada,' J. P. Tyrrell. The author de- 

 scribes the three successive glaciers of this por- 

 tion of Canada, viz: 1st, the Cordilleran, that 

 spread from the Cordilleras eastward and then 

 retreated ; 2d, the Keewatin, that originated 

 northwest of Hudson Bay and spread north, 

 west, south, and to some degree east, and with- 

 drew ; 3d, the Labradorean, that began in cen- 

 tral Labrador, spread in all directions, but es- 

 pecially southward, and on the northwest lapped 



