312 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1026 



tieularly true in the case of the familiar, but 

 little studied, " horned toad," Phrynosoma 

 cornutum, and undoubtedly many " pairs " 

 which have been shipped north by well mean- 

 ing collectors have been of the same sex. 



In making a study of the stomach contents 

 of Phrynosomas, I have had occasion to open 

 some two hundred specimens, trying always to 

 find some connection between external char- 

 acters and sex. The problem very quickly was 

 solved; and I can affirm, that for this region 

 at least, and during the spring months, the 

 crescent markings on the back of the female 

 are much brighter yellow than those of the 

 male. The difEerence is very marked, and little 

 or no practise is required to enable one to dis- 

 tinguish the sexes, even without comparison of 

 specimens. 



W. M. WiNTOX 



Texas Cheistian University, 

 roET Worth, Texas 



CAHOKIA OR MONKS MOUND NOT OF ARTIFICIAL 

 ORIGIN 



A STUDY of the materials composing the so- 

 called Monks or Cahokia Mound, in Madison 

 county, 111., establishes, beyond doubt, that it 

 is not of artificial origin, as has been so gen- 

 erally held but that it is a remnant remaining 

 after the erosion of the alluvial deposits, which 

 at one time filled the valley of the Mississippi, 

 in the locality known as the " Great American 

 Bottoms." 



A. E. Crook 



Springfield, III. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Geology of the Yang-ize Valley (China). By 

 Yamajiro Ishii. Bulletin of the Imperial 

 Geological Survey of Japan, Vol. 23, No. 2, 

 Tokyo, 1913, pp. 19 + 15Y. 

 There are but few inhabited and easily ac- 

 cessible parts of the globe about which there is 

 a smaller fund of geological knowledge than 

 China. For that reason it is gratifying to note 

 that papers on Chinese geology are appearing 

 with increasing frequency. On the other hand, 

 it is regrettable that some of these do not pos- 



sess either the practical utility or the scien- 

 tific accuracy that is always needed. 



Since it is printed in the Japanese language 

 and characters, Mr. Ishii's paper on the Yang- 

 tze Valley will be of little use to nearly all 

 geologists outside of Japan and China. This 

 applies not only to the text, but also to the 

 titles of maps and diagrams. Although there 

 may be some compelling reasons unknown to 

 the reviewer, such as popular demands in 

 Japan, it would be hard to defend on general 

 grounds, the printing of technical scientific 

 papers in any language which is not in more 

 or less general use in the scientific world. 

 Only a geologist can read a technical geologic 

 paper with full understanding and apprecia- 

 tion. Nearly all educated Japanese and 

 Chinese read English, if not also French or 

 German, so that even a paper intended largely 

 for local use in Japan would be quite as in- 

 telligible to its readers if presented in. one of 

 the more important European languages and it 

 would at the same time be available for for- 

 eign students in general. A popular summary 

 in Japanese might be appended for the edifica- 

 tion of the few who read only the mother 

 tongue. It is greatly to be hoped that the fu- 

 ture tendency in Japan will be away from the 

 practise exemplified in this bulletin. 



In the English summary of 19 pages at the 

 beginning of the bulletin, there is an interest- 

 ing account of the origin of the name Yang- 

 tze-Kiang. This is followed by paragraphs on 

 '' Hydrography," and " Mountains and Plains." 

 Under the heading of " Geology," the follow- 

 ing table of stratigraphic divisions is given: 

 (a) Quaternary, (5) Red Sandstone forma- 

 tion, (c) Coal-bearing Sandstone formation, 

 (d) Great Limestone formation, (e) Sinic or 

 Metamorphic formation, (/) Gneiss formation, 

 (g) Plutonic rocks, (h) Volcanic rocks. The 

 reviewer is obliged to agree with the author's 

 admission (on page 16) that " our classifica- 

 tion of the strata in Yang-tze Valley into the 

 Quaternary, red-sandstone formation, coal- 

 bearing formation, etc., as given above, is not 

 the proper method of classification, because the 

 geological age of each member is so indefinite 

 that one formation may I'epresent older Paleo- 



