July 2, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



29 



noon sea fog moving from west to east and 

 the land or tule fog of winter mornings, there 

 is a third kind of fog which may be called 

 smoke fog. Under certain atmospheric con- 

 ditions the smoke of the city moves seaward 

 during the forenoon and returns about 1 p.m. 

 as a dense black pall." 



V. Physiographic Geography. By Buliff 

 S. Holway. — Outlines the remarkable con- 

 trasts in the upstanding geologic expressions 

 of the coast. 



VI. Geology of the West Coast Region of 

 the United States. By C. F. Tolman, Jr. — A 

 summary of the results of an army of workers 

 in this field; outlining the geologic succession 

 up to the Oordilleran Revolution, giving its 

 history since, a correlation table of the entire 

 rock column, a summary of the mineral pro- 

 duction and a vade mecum to the principal 

 mining districts of California. 



VII. Earthquahes. By J. 0. Branner. — A 

 succinct statement of seismological principles 

 and factors, covering an actual two and one 

 half out of a possible three hundred and two 

 pages; an obviously inverse proportion. 

 Pneumatologically and strategically the gem 

 of the collection. 



Vm. Mines and Mining. By H. Foster 

 Bain. 



IX. Petroleum Resources and Industries 

 of the Pacific Coast. By Ralph Arnold. — 

 Further and more detailed statements of pro- 

 duction of the basic minerals with which the 

 west coast enters the market. California, no 

 longer first in gold production, is now first in 

 the production of petroleum, and perhaps no 

 feature in the development of the mineral 

 industry of America has been so extraordi- 

 nary as the California output of oil. Notice 

 is taken of the various oil districts and the 

 fundamental relation of oil storage to mono- 

 cline structures. Referring to the origin of 

 the oils, the following paragraph is an excel- 

 lent contemporary expression : 



" The oils of the California fields are be- 

 lieved to have been derived largely from the 

 organic shales which are associated with the 

 oil-bearing beds in all fields of the state. It 

 is believed that the oil originated from the 



organic matter, both vegetable and animal, 

 which is contained in these beds. Probably 

 the principal source of the oil has been the 

 diatomaceous deposits which make up a large 

 percentage of the Tejon or Eocene formation 

 in the Coalinga district and the Monterey or 

 Lower Miocene formation throughout the bal- 

 ance of the districts. Other organisms that 

 may also be the source of some of the oil are 

 plants, Foraminifera, Bryozoa and possibly 

 moUusks and fish. A great deal of evidence 

 can be advanced favoring the organic origin 

 of the oil in California and enough demon- 

 strating the impossibility of its inorganic 

 origin locally to practically prove the former 

 theory by the process of elimination." 



It seems rather appropriate that, in connec- 

 tion with this very positive expression, the 

 author has inserted in his chapter, on the re- 

 verse side of a plate showing the oil derricks 

 in Santa Barbara county, a picture of a 

 group of trilobites and other oleaginous Cam- 

 brian crustaceans collected by Mr. Waleott at 

 Mt. Wapta, British Columbia. 



X. Significant Features in the History of 

 Life on the Pacific Coast. By John 0. Mer- 

 riam. — -Paleontologic science on the west coast 

 has had remarkable development in late years, 

 and aside from the well-known discoveries 

 from the older rocks, the life records of the 

 Pleistocene caves and of the asphalt pool of 

 Eancho La Brea are among the amazing 

 things of the earth. Of the latter Doctor 

 Merriam says : " Literally hundreds of thou- 

 sands of specimens have been obtained from 

 these deposits," and the victims of these tar- 

 traps are of considerably more than 100 spe- 

 cies, from saber-toothed tigers to thousand- 

 legged worms. Such a snare as this indicates 

 most impressively what tremendous faunas 

 have roamed the earth and air in past ages 

 and have escaped untrapped. 



XI. The Yerteirate Fauna of the Pacific 

 Coast. By Joseph Grinnell. 



XII. Fishes of the Pacific Coast. By 

 David Starr Jordan. — Exceedingly interest- 

 ing resumes, the latter with much useful data 

 regarding the fisheries production. 



XIII. Marine Biology of the Pacific Coast. 



