232 GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



As the accuracy of the material from the Land Office and county sur- 

 veyors is not of the highest, the adopted mode of reduction was not the 

 most accurate. The graphic methods used were rapid and sufficiently 

 accurate for the purpose, which was to present in the form of a map and 

 the form of a table the best knowledge available as to the magnetic dedi- 

 nation in the year 1900. The work was planned and executed as a prac- 

 tical matter and chiefly for the use of surveyors. 



The only wonder is that the great stock of data in the General Land 

 Office has not been hitherto made use of. Now that it has been, perhaps 

 some of the colleges and universities in the land office States may be stim- 

 ulated to undertake a similar work for their own States, going over all the 

 data and supplementing them by observations where such are found to be 

 desirable. M. B. 



Carpenter'' s Geographical Reader. Asia. Bj^ Frank G. Carpenter. Pp.304, 

 with maps and illustrations. New York : American Book Co., 1897. 

 This little book treats of the various countries of Asia, mainly with 

 relation to the occupations, social customs, amusements, etc., of their 

 inhabitants. Being derived in the main from personal observation and 

 experience, its descriptions are vivid and characteristic, with plenty of 

 local color. H. G. 



Studies in Indiana Geography. Edited by Charles Eedway Dryer, M. A., 

 M. D., Professor of Geography in The Indiana State Normal School. 

 First series. Pp. 113, quarto. Terre Haute, Indiana: The Inland 

 Publishing Company. 1897. 50 cents. 



This is a geographic reader, treating of local geography, shaped on the 

 lines of modern science. The dedication to Professor William M. Davis 

 is an index to the character of the book. The opening chapter, entitled 

 "The New Geography," is a most excellent statement of what geography 

 should be. The general physical geography of the State is given in broad 

 outlines, clearly and simply. The topography of the State being largely 

 the result of glacial deposition, this subject receives considerable atten- 

 tion under the chapter headings "The Glacial Deposits of Indiana " and 

 "The Morainal Lakes of Indiana." The natural resources of the State — 

 coal, gas, i>etroleum, soils, building stone, clays, etc. — receive a chapter. 

 An interesting subject, only too briefly treated, is the changes which have 

 taken place in the surface of the State during the period of white occupa- 

 tion. As a specimen of what might be done for all our great cities, the 

 book contains "A Study of the City of Terre Haute." This consists of a 

 number of questions intended to draw out from schoolboys a full account 

 of the origin, history, location, mode of government, municipal improve- 

 ments, and social condition of the city. It is exhaustive, extremely sug- 

 gestive, and altogether admirable. The book closes with a history of the 

 Great Lakes, which seems rather out of place in this connection. 



The maps in the book are by no means in keeping with the quality of 

 the text, being crudely drawn and poorly executed. 



The work as a whole is a most valuable addition to the teaching of 

 geography, and its influence will be felt not only in the State of Indiana, 

 but elsewhere. H. G. 



