June 15, 1SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



545 



dency has been, perhaps, too much the other . 

 waj'. Ten thousand 3'ears seems a short time 

 for the completion of such great changes as 

 we find in river-beds, in lalie-margins, and in 

 mammalian species. 



In the last chapter the author discusses the 

 relation of the Bible to science. Perhaps the 

 time is not jet fullj' ripe for final adjustment 

 here. But one thing is meanwhile certain : 

 all the harm which has come, or will ever come, 

 of the discussion of this subject, comes only 

 of a narrow, intolerant spirit on both sides. 

 Nothing but good can come of the freest in- 

 quiry, if only it is conducted in a simple, rev- 

 erent, truth-loving spirit. 



1 But as mauj- will think that a reviewer is 

 ' nothing unless critical,' we must find some 

 faults, even if they be but errors of tj'pographj', 

 or slips of the pen. Of the former, we find 

 one on p. 329, where 70° instead of 20° from 

 pole is given as the position of the antarctic 

 continental ice-foot. Among the latter, we 

 notice on p. 310 that the bluff-deposit of the 

 Mississippi River is spoken of as the ' orange 

 sand.' The bluft-deposit is a very fine silt 

 (loess) overlying the coarse orange sand. 

 Again : the transition from paleozoic to meso- 

 zoic can hardly be called ' one from water- 

 breathing to air-breathing animals,' since air- 

 breathing insects lived in the Devonian, and 

 air-breathing insects and amphibians were 

 abundant in the carboniferous. 



Finallj', we should state that the book is 

 illustrated bj' several plates, which greatly 

 increase its value. 



THE TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF NEW 

 JERSEY. 



A topographical map of a part of northern Neio 

 J eraey , from surveys and levellings made, and local 

 surveys corrected- By Geokge W. Howell, 

 C.E., and C. C. Vermeule, C.E. Julius Bien, 

 lilh., 1S8-2. 87.5x88 cm. 



All of on I- state geological survej'S have 

 been hampered bj- a lack of topographic maps 

 on which to record and publish their results. 

 The geological maps thus far completed have 

 in nearly all cases been based on compilations 

 of county and other surveys, executed at dif- 

 ferent times, on different plans, and seldom 

 with sufficient geodetic triangulation to insure 

 accuracj'. Representation of mountain form 

 is in nearly all cases excessivelj' incorrect. 

 When careful topographic surveys have been 

 made, they have unfortunately too often fol- 

 lowed instead of preceded the geological ex- 

 amination. As it is now too late to go back 

 and perform the work in proper order, the 



next best plan is at least to carrj' on topo- 

 graphic survejs wherever possible, and secure, 

 as soon as may be, the good results of a close 

 knowledge of the form of the various states. 

 Such work is going on in New York, and a 

 careful triangulation has been carried across 

 the state ; but, with the appropriation at pres- 

 ent grudginglj' afforded this work, many 

 years must pass before it is completed. New 

 Hampshire has taken advantage of a trian- 

 gulation executed for it bj- the U. S. coast- 

 surve}', and constructed a large six-sheet map 

 on a scale of two and one-half miles to the 

 inch (1:158,400), with contour lines everj^ 

 hundred, and in parts every fifty, feet ; but these 

 latter, are bj" no means of final accurac}'. This 

 map was issued with geological coloring in 

 1878 ; and that part including the White Moun- 

 tains has been published apart in Appalachian 

 vol. i., uncolorod, and also hj the surveyor, 

 Mr. H. F. Walling, with hypsometric coloring. 

 Another notable contour-line map is that of 

 ' Morrison's Cove,' survej-ed by Mr. R. H. 

 Sanders, to illustrate Mr. Fr. Piatt's report 

 on Blair and Huntingdon Counties, Penn. 

 (Second geol. surv. Penn., T., 1881). It is 

 printed in fourteen large sheets, on a scale of 

 sixteen hundred feet to an inch (1 :19,200), or 

 about three and one-half inches to a mile, with 

 contours everj- twenty feet, and is colored 

 geologicallj'. Being in a region of typical 

 Appalachian form, it has an especial value 

 in showing this remarkablj' interesting stj-le of 

 anountain surface. A photographic plate from 

 a model constructed from this ma]) 63' Mr. E. 

 H. Harden has been published {Proc. Amer. 

 phil. soc, xix. 1881), and gives a finer view of 

 the intricacies of Pennsj-lvanian topography 

 than any thing else that has yet appeared. It 

 is to be hoped that the other models constructed 

 for the Pennsylvania survey- may be treated 

 in the same waj'. A second example of fine 

 topographic work on the same large scale is in 

 the lately issued map of the Panther Creek 

 basin hy Mr. R. P. Rothwell (see Science, 

 p. 310), which makes the first of a series of 

 maps that will illustrate the survey of the 

 anthracite district of Pennsylvania, in charge 

 of Mr. Ashburner. The large number of ac- 

 curate surveys of private propert}' in this 

 region, and the numerous railroads crossing it, 

 will furnish a valuable basis for the final work 

 of the state geologists, and its interesting 

 form and unique structure will at last find 

 adequate representation. 



The topographic map now in course of con- 

 struction and publication bj- the Geological- 

 survey of New Jersey, under the direction 



