JUNE 14, 1901.] 
structure, with the stipulation that the area 
studied should be British. The prize for the 
best essay was awarded to F. R. Cowper Reed, 
of Trinity College, who wrote on ‘The Geo- 
logical History of the Rivers of East York- 
shire’ (London, Clay and Sons, 1901, 103 pp., 
map, 8 cuts). Thirty pages are given to a geo- 
logical history of the region. River develop- 
ment began with the post-Cretaceous uplift and 
continued through a first cycle with important 
adjustments till an extensive peneplain had 
been formed, Near the close of Oligocene time 
came another uplift, affecting the British Isles 
and Western Europe. The rivers of the pene- 
plain were thus revived and set to work sculp- 
turing the existent topography; and at this 
time it is believed that a flat anticline was 
formed along the axis of the moorland north of 
the vale of Pickering, producing important 
changes in certain stream courses. A depres- 
sion of moderate amount occurred near the end 
of the Pliocene; the area of greatest sinking 
then came to be occupied by the North sea, 
whose extent has since been increased by wave 
work along the shore. Then came the glacial 
period and its changes of level, when many 
valleys were clogged with till and many streams 
were reversed by ice blockades. Since the ice 
retreated, a small uplift and a small depression 
have occurred. The development of river 
courses is followed through these various land 
movements, special attention being given to the 
changes caused by the growth of subsequent 
branches along belts of weak strata, and by 
till and ice barriers. The essay is easily the 
most detailed and successful study of the rivers 
of northern England that has yet appeared. 
THE VOGTLAND. 
A pisTRicT of uplands and valleys, drained 
chiefly by the Elster, roughly located as in the 
southwest corner of Saxony, and known as the 
Vogtland, has been described by Wohlrab (‘ Das 
Vogtland als geographisches Individuum,’ 
Forsch. deut. Landes u. Volkeskunde, XII., 
1899, 101-185, map and plates). The essay is 
interesting as a partial recognition of the neces- 
sity of treating geographical forms with respect 
to their origin, yet itis hampered by the reten- 
tion of certain traditional empirical methods and 
SCIENCE. 
951 
by the incomplete adoption of more’ modern 
rational methods. The gently undulating up- 
lands of schists, surmounted by low ridges and 
knobs of harder rocks, are properly presented 
as a worn-down old-mountain surface ; but the 
descriptions of its landscapes thus considered 
are all quoted, as if the author wished to leave 
to others the responsibility of so venturesome an 
explanation. No explicit mention is made of 
the slanting uplift of the region, whereby its 
streams were enabled to incise their modern 
valleys. Indeed, the occurrence of bold and 
rocky valley sides beneath the milder scenery 
of the rolling uplands is presented as if it were 
somewhat out of the order of nature, worthy 
of being looked on.as a curiosity, instead of 
the well-understood and commonplace accom- 
paniment of dissection recently revived by up- 
lift after a long period of relative quiescence. 
The details of valley form are incompletely de- 
seribed, though incidental mention is made of 
the incipient flood plains on the convex banks 
of the méandering streams, opposite the steep 
valley slopes over the concave banks. Many 
arithmetical details are given concerning the 
form of ridges and valleys: for example, the 
mean slopes of many valleys are calculated ; 
although when the upper course of a valley is 
shallow and broad, slightly depressed beneath 
the uplands, while the lower course is sharply 
incised, relatively narrow and steep-sided, it is 
as inappropriate to measure its mean slope as 
it would be to average the price of old scrap 
iron and new steel rails. All these details have 
a certain value, but their value would be 
greatly increased if a more thorough.scheme 
of physiographic description served as the basis 
of the work. 
W. M. DAVIs. 
NOTES ON OCEANOGRAPHY. 
AN OCEANOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM. 
In connection with the exhibit of the collec- 
tions made by the Prince of Monaco at the Paris 
Exposition, a convenient summary of his scien- 
tific work has been published by Richard (Les 
Campagnes Scientifiques de S. A. S. le Prince 
Albert Ier de Monaco, 1900). Brief descrip_ 
tions of the different vessels and types of appa- 
ratus employed during the voyages, and a more 
