850 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 



reached us appears in the heading of this 

 article, the parts enumerated comprising 578 

 pages, Y charts and 50 plates. Of this the 

 larger part is comprised in a monograph of the 

 Microplankton which takes up 355 pages and 

 an Atlas of 37 plates. Lists of the birds and 

 mammals observed are given in the " Journal." 

 The mosses were extensively collected and con- 

 tained an extensive fauna of minute inverte- 

 brates, of which the Tardigrades are described 

 by Dr. Richter, about 30 species were obtained, 

 of which five proved to be new. A minute 

 copepod crustacean, Moraria muscicola Eich- 

 ters, which has adapted itself to a terrestrial 

 habitat, was among the other animals found 

 in the moss. The dredgings produced thirty- 

 eight species of mollusks and two brachiopods, 

 all well-known arctic forms. The Echino- 

 derms included twenty-five species, a Crinoid, 

 nine Ophiurans, eleven starfish, an echinus 

 and three Holothurians, none of which proved 

 new, which is not astonishing, since so many 

 exploring expeditions have visited this region. 

 The specimens of bottom obtained conformed 

 in general to the character of soundings pre- 

 viously made in the Polar seas. The speci- 

 mens studied are rich in garnet, pyroxenes and 

 basaltic magmas, but showed no meteoric par- 

 ticles and were poor in magnetite. More than, 

 seventy soundings were made, of which nine- 

 teen were carefully analyzed. In the matter 

 of terrestrial physics meteorology is discussed 

 by Commandant de Gerlache, magnetism by 

 A. Nippoldt and atmospheric electricity by 

 G. Ludeling. The charts are from the latest 

 researches published by the Russian Admiralty. 

 Altogether the present contribution adds a 

 worthy member to the long list of publications 

 on the ever interesting problems of the Arctic 

 region. 



Wm. H. Dall 



Modern Geography. By Marion I. New- 

 BiGiN. New York, Henry Holt and Com- 

 pany. 1911. Pp. 256. 

 jSTewbigin's " Modern Geography " is Vol- 

 ume 7 of the new Home University Library 

 of Modern Knowledge, established by Wil- 

 liams and Norgate of London. It is a popular 



volume, aiming to summarize in two hundred 

 and fifty pages the content of geography as 

 now understood. Four chapters are devoted 

 to the history of geography since the doctrine 

 of evolution has revolutionized modern 

 thought, to the development of surface forms 

 and to climate and weather. Pour chapters 

 are devoted to the geography of plants and 

 animals and the Races of Europe. The final 

 chapter considers the Distribution of Miner- 

 als and the Localization of Industries and 

 Towns. 



The chapters are necessarily brief and ia 

 no case is it possible for the author to con- 

 sider any topic in a really satisfactory man- 

 ner; and yet the new ideas are outlined in 

 simple, untechnical language, and with suffi- 

 cient fullness to give the gist of modern 

 thought, in every case. The reader will not, 

 as is so frequently the case in volumes of 

 similar scope, gain the impression that all has 

 been said that might be said on any subject. 

 He will, on the contrary, be naturally and 

 easily led far enough into the subject to be- 

 come interested in it and desire to learn more 

 about it. A carefully selected list of refer- 

 ences given in the appendix presents the 

 reader with the logical next step in his ad- 

 vancement. Throughout the volume the au- 

 thor writes with a real geographic instinct 

 and constantly inserts examples of the influ- 

 ences of physical conditions on life distribu- 

 tion and relations. In this way geography is 

 shovm to be a subject not merely of broad 

 generalizations, but of real significance in 

 understanding some of the common things of 

 every-day life. Except in the chapter devoted 

 to Plant Geography, where the author con- 

 siders the plant formations of Eurasia and 

 North America, but little attention is given 

 to American conditions, and few illustrations 

 of geographic relations are taken from the 

 rich offering of our own continent. 



Though the volume is thus European in 

 tone, it is not by any means without value for 

 readers in this country. It is a suggestive 

 volume, interestingly written, that should ap- 

 peal to the general reader, and offers many 

 suggestions to the geographer, though he may 



