November 9, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



591 



while denudation comes under rivers and val- 

 leys. In general the chief novelty has been 

 the omission of structures as a separate group. 

 The result is separations as well as connec- 

 tions. We learn of river deposits in connec- 

 tion with the study of rivers as agents, but 

 to learn about sandstones we must go to three 

 or four separate parts of the book. If there 

 are gains there are losses to set over against 

 them. 



From the reviewer's point of view this is a 

 very beautifully illustrated volume in which 

 physiography is unusually prominent. Omit 

 the historical third part, the weakest part of 

 the book, and add a little here and there about 

 man, plants and animals and the book would 

 fall perfectly into a class of recent text-books 

 of physical geography, all with some general 

 similarity to Davis's ' Physical Geography,' 

 but lacking its classification and evolution of 

 the forms of the earth's surface. The physio- 

 graphic half-tones are mostly very beautiful 

 both in appearance and in teaching value. 'A 

 Lake well-nigh effaced, Montana ' and ' A level 

 Meadow, Scotland,' pages Yl and 72, seem to 

 me unsurpassed as illustrations. All localities 

 are rather vaguely referred to as here, though 

 it is hard to see why. Professor Norton evi- 

 dently knows where these places are and stu- 

 dents would certainly find some interest in 

 sharing his knowledge. There are practically 

 no references to other books, either. The 

 presswork is of course admirable, though a 

 beginner will wonder at a * parted laver ' (p. 

 217). The diagrams are less satisfactory, 

 some of them stiff and difficult to read. The 

 map of Niagara gorge at page 60 has evi- 

 dently been copied from Gilbert's paper in the 

 National Geographic monographs though it is 

 not so credited. Unfortunately, it has been 

 redrawn and badly redrawn, so that it quite 

 conceals the variations in width that are very 

 marked in the original and afford even better 

 evidence of varying erosion by the river than 

 the depth of the gorge does, as Taylor has 

 shown. A similar thing appears to have been 

 done with the cut of the silurian scorpion at 

 page 339. It strongly suggests the woodcut 

 figured 347 in Geikie's manual, but redrawn 

 with the omission of the artist's name, which 



in Geikie shows very plainly. There is no 

 acknowledgment to any one, though about one 

 third of the cuts are acknowledged borrowed, 

 a dozen from the author! Most of the illus- 

 trations in the ' Historical Geology ' have a 

 familiar look. Dana and Geikie come quickly 

 to mind at sight of figures 331, 338, 339 and 

 336. None of them, however, are credited. 



The historical part does not seem to have 

 received so much of the author's attention as 

 the earlier portions of the book, nor even so 

 much attention as its importance merits. 

 This undertreatment disappears when we come 

 to the Quaternary and the Ice Age. The 

 physiographic is everywhere the part best de- 

 veloped. In matters of fact the work seems 

 painstakingly accurate. That it is soraewhat 

 dogmatic is, perhaps, pardonable in an ele- 

 mentary text -book. Yet, if alternative views 

 had been stated occasionally it would help the 

 student avoid the ' common error ' referred to 

 by Professor Davis in his godfatherly note, 

 of thinking ' authorities ' have a private road 

 to information. Thus ' lateral secretion ' ap- 

 pears to be the only view of the origin of 

 mineral veins that Professor Norton cares to 

 entertain. For him Posepny does not exist, 

 nor waters from the depths. Yet Professor 

 Gregory has just been returning from Aus- 

 tralia, stating that the so-called artesian 

 waters of New South Wales are all deep 

 waters soon to be exhausted. At page 331 

 Professor Norton calls the waters artesian 

 that ascend in borings after gas has given 

 out! There is no doubt that many teachers 

 could find this volume helpful in giving stu- 

 dents interest in earth science without neces- 

 sarily appreciating at the author's estimate 

 the particular need he has sought to fill. 



Mark S. W. Jefferson. 



Ypstlantt, Mich., 

 October 17, 1906. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Botanical Gazette for October contains 

 the following leading articles: George F. At- 

 kinson gives a detailed account of the devel- 

 opment of Agaricv^ campestris, illustrated by 

 six photographic plates. William Crocker 

 publishes the results of an investigation of 



