November 18, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



495 



pp.). "A familiar Compend of Geology" of 

 150 pages by A. M. Hillside is dated 1859. 



The contents of these old books usually 

 justify the modesty of their titles. 



The third period of text-book evolution 

 (1860-1904) began with Ebenezer Emmons's 

 "Manual of Geology," 1860. This had only 

 297 pages, but included many illustrations. 

 Indeed, this was the first book to make very 

 large use of illustrations. 



But in a few years Emmons's excellent work 

 and the other books were displaced by the 

 masterly " Manual of Geology " by James D. 

 Dana. This was true to its title, for that 

 time. The first edition, 1862, had 798 pages 

 and 984 illustrations. The fourth edition, in 

 1895, had 1087 pages and 1575 illustrations. 

 All the geologists of the period including the 

 older geologists now living were " brought 

 up " on Dana's Manual. To meet the de- 

 mand for a small text Dana published in 

 1863 his " Text-Book," which was revised in 

 1897 by W. N. Eice. 



The most popular work during this period 

 for class-room use and as a treatise for 

 general reading was Joseph LeOonte's " Ele- 

 ments of Geology," first published in 1878. 

 In LeConte's picturesque style, with profuse 

 new illustrations, and emphasizing mountain 

 structure and other features of the western 

 part of the continent, it held the field for 

 three decades, with several revisions; and it 

 is yet in demand, although badly out of date 

 on many topics. LeConte's " Compend," 

 with 399 pages, appeared in 1884. 



During the later years of this period 

 several smaller texts appeared; by N. S. Sha- 

 ler, "First Book in Geology," 1884 (255 pp.); 

 Angelo Heilprin, " The Earth and Its Story," 

 1896 (267 pp.); E. S. Tarr, "Elementary Ge- 

 ology," 1897 (499 pp.); W. B. Scott, "An 

 Introduction to Geology," 1897 (573 pp.). 

 Some popular works or treatises were: Louis 

 Agassiz, "Geological Sketches," 1866; Alex- 

 ander Winchell, " Sketches of Creation," 

 1870 ; " Sparks from a Geologist's Hammer," 

 1870 ; " World Life, or Comparative Geology," 

 1883; T. Sterry Hunt, "Chemical and Ge- 

 ological Essays," 1875; J. W. Dawson, "The 



Story of the Earth and Man," 1873; N. S. 

 Shaler, "Aspects of the Earth," 1889. 



The year 1888 marks an ejKJch in American 

 geology, in the organization of the Geologi- 

 cal Society of America, and the beginning of 

 a periodical devoted entirely to geology. The 

 American Geologist was founded and con- 

 ducted by N. H. Winchell and existed to 

 1905, making 36 volumes. The Journal of 

 Geology, published by the University of Chi- 

 cago, began its excellent work in 1893. 



The next commanding work, in succession 

 to Hitchcock, Dana and LeConte, was the 

 three volumes of T. 0. Chamberlin and E. 

 D. Salisbury, in 1904^1906, aggregating 

 2,000 pages. This may be regarded as intro- 

 ducing the fourth and present period of 

 American geologic literature. 



Other excellent text-books of later years are 

 the following, omitting titles; J. C. Branner, 

 (a syllabus) 1902; W. H. Norton, 1905; Eliot 

 Blackwelder and H. H. Barrows, 1911 ; Cham- 

 berlin and Salisbury (single volume), 1914; 

 L. V. Pirsson and Charles Schuchert, 1915 

 (1051 pp., 522 figures); W. J. Miller, 1916 

 (covering only historical geology) ; H. F. 

 Cleland, 1916. 



The above relates only to general geology, 

 but the volimie of earth-science literature has 

 been increased by superior text-books in eco- 

 nomic or industrial geology, and in physi- 

 ography. The great mass of publication by 

 the national and state surveys does not be- 

 long in this review. 



Eecurring now to the work in hand; it is 

 in many respects an excellent presentation of 

 geology to date. The writer has good liter- 

 ary style, direct and lucid. Most topics are 

 well handled and many are treated with full- 

 ness and in a masterly way. This is especially 

 true of sedimentation problems, of paleozoic 

 stratigraphy, and of the historical part in 

 general. 



The illustrations are profuse and usually 

 pertinent. The portraits of eminent geolo- 

 gists of former times will give the student a 

 more lively human element. The paleogeo- 

 graphic maps, in Part II., are drawn in clear 

 outline, and interesting comparison will be 



