BOOK NOTICES. 735 



interests of Florida and the fruit interests in other sections have also been largely 

 benefited by these warnings. The correctness of these warnings and storm pre- 

 dictions have been carefully verified by observations and found to agree very 

 closely with the actual results, the percentage of accuracy running as high as 95 

 on the average. 



There is no question of the value and importance of the Signal Service work 

 to the country at large, and the number of persons consulting the charts and 

 tables in our post-ofifices, daily, shows the confidence placed in the observations 

 and predictions by the public generally. 



The Builders' Guide. By Fred. T. Hodgson; i2mo. pp. 326; New York. 

 The Industrial Publication Society, 1882. $1.00. 



This work is chiefly intended as an aid to the builder and contractor in mak- 

 ing estimates of the cost of work they may be competing for. The author is edi- 

 tor of the Builder and Woodworker and is fully competent to offer advice and in- 

 formation on all branches of the builder's business. In addition to the ordinary 

 rules for estimating found in such books, he has given prices of material, labor, 

 tools, etc , which, if not applicable at all localities, will serve as a general guide 

 at least to proportional values and enable the mechanic to avoid the reckless guess- 

 ing which so often appears in their bids. 



Many pages are devoted to valuable tables and memoranda of a useful char- 

 acter compiled from the standard works of Nicholson, Barlowe, Rankine, Trau- 

 twine and other well known authors, also to various rules and recipes that must 

 prove of service to builders and all others interested in the construction, repairs or 

 decoration of buildings. A very concise summary of the Mechanic's Lien laws of 

 most of the States of the Union is given which adds largely to the value of the 

 work to laboring men and those supplying materials. Nearly sixty pages are de- 

 voted to a glossary of architectural terms, and the whole is concluded with a care- 

 ful index. Apparently it is just the book needed by estimators, contractors and 

 mechanics. 



Report of the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, 1881. Quarto, 

 pp. 588. U S. Printing Office, Washington, 18S2. 



This is the Second Annual Report of the Survey and is made by Major J. 

 W, Powell, the capable successor of Mr. Clarence King, who resigned March 1 1 , 

 1881. It comprises a general account of the work done, with the administrative 

 reports of the several assistants and several valuable accompanying papers, sucb 

 as The Physical Geology of the Grand Canon District, by Captain C. E. Dutton ; 

 Contributions to the History of Lake Bonneville, by G. K. Gilbert; Abstract of 

 Report on Geology and Mining Industry of Leadville, by S. F. Emmons ; A Sum- 

 mary of the Geology of the Comstock Lode and the Washoe District, by Geo. F. 

 Becker ; Production of the Precious Metals in the United States, by Clarence 



