154 
GEOGRAPHIC LITER A TURE 
larl\" fertile field, and, with the aid of camera and pencil, has reproduced 
some of the most striking features of the ancient work. The ]>hotographs 
are excellent and remarkably well reprodiu-ed ; the author’s device of 
representing the ruins in i)anoramas, with the mantle of vegetation 
omitted, is quite effective, and the wealth of detail depicted in the minor 
drawings adds much to the value of the book. In this treatise and the 
succeeding ])art, which is i>romised soon to follow, a clear and faithful 
picture of the Yucatec ruins will be found; and the great IMuseum at 
Chicago is to be felicitated as the i)atron of the research and the depository 
of the collections growing out of it. 
Geolof/iral Hhtorii of Ihe Chantauqua Grape Belt. Bulletin No. 109, Cornell 
T^niversity Agricultural Plxperiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. By R. S. 
Tarr. Pp. 30, with maps and illustrations. 
This is issueil as the first specific attempt in this country on the part 
of an exiieriment station to analyze the physical geography of a fruit belt. 
Notwithstanding most excellent opportunities, very little has been at- 
tempted in the United States in the way of studying the conditions of 
soil and climate existing in what may be called type fruit regions. It is 
obvious that such studies, if properly carried on, would be of great prac- 
tical value, for if once the conditions prevailing in the type regions for 
certain fruits were thoroughly understood it would be possible within 
given limits to determine the practicability of growing such fruits in other 
sections of the country. Work bearing on this subject has for several 
years lieen in jirogressby Professor Milton Whitney, of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, and as a result the geological and physical 
characteristics of the type soils for several important crops have been 
worked out. The work. by Profe.ssor Tarr, although somewhat different 
in its character, has the same object in view, namely, that of ascertaining 
the natural conditions existing in a region famous for the excellence of 
one of its ju-oduc.ts, in this instance the grape. Professor Tarr has con- 
lined his studies largely to the geological side of the question, first discuss- 
ing the topography and then following with a consideration of the bed 
rock. The different kinds of soils and their relative values are also dis- 
cussed. Altogether the bulletin is very interesting, and is especially 
valuable as taking up a line of work that has been somewhat neglected. 
Die Liparisclien Lmda. In eight Parts, fully illustrated with excellent 
wood cuts of Sket(dies by F redricb Hawranek. Prag. Ileinr. Mercy, 1895. 
This handsome work gives a compk?te ])icture of the present condition 
of these interesting historical islands and contains much information of 
value to the student and traveler. Each of the first seven parts is de- 
voted to an elaborate illustration of one of the islands, with a brief de- 
scription of its natural features and culture. One cannot but regret that 
the numerous illustrations of these remarkable volcanic islands are drawn 
wholly from sketches instead of from photographs, which have so much 
higher a value as a source of information. For example, in part 5, chapter 
III, the illustrations of the cavernous coast show no definite relation of 
the caverns and arches to the structure of the rock, as is well known to 
