222 The National Geographic Magazine 



to forestry, but after reading this chap- 

 ter, one has only a confused and indefi- 

 nite idea of the extent and value of the 

 Finnish forests. The same indefinite- 

 ness characterizes the chapter on the 

 foreign trade of the country. There is 

 vastly more information concerning Fin- 

 land in four pages of the Statesmati' s 

 Year-book than in this entire work. 



The Earth's Beginning. By Sir Rob- 

 ert Stawell Ball. With four colored 

 plates and numerous illustrations. 

 Pp. 384. New York : D. Appleton 

 &Co. 



In his preface to the book Sir Robert 

 Ball states that his aim has been to give 

 ' ' a popular exposition of that splendid 

 branch of astronomy which treats of the 

 evolution of the earth, the planets, and 

 the sun from fire-mist." The author 

 has been successful in his object and has 

 written a book that will be widely and 

 profitably read at the present time, when 

 the whole world is so deeply interested 

 in the facts of the earth. In clear and 

 graphic description of abstruse scientific 

 theories Sir Robert Ball is a master. 

 Some of the chapter headings are : ' ' The 

 Fire-mist," "Nebulas, Apparent and 

 Real," " Earthquakes and Volcanoes," 

 ' ' The Unity of Material in the Heavens 

 and the Earth. ' ' 



The Statesman's Year-book for 1902. 



Edited by J. Scott Keltie, assisted by 

 I. P. A. Renwick. With eight maps. 

 Pp. 1332. New York and London: 

 The Macmillan Company. $3, net. 

 The latest edition of this indispens- 

 able year-book contains much new data. 

 Within the year censuses have been 

 taken of the British Empire and of 

 many countries. All the new infor- 

 mation thus acquired has been in- 

 cluded in the volume. A valuable fea- 

 ture of the Year-book for 1902 is a series 

 of maps and charts showing the density 



of population of Europe in 1901, the 

 comparative growth of population of 

 countries and of cities during the nine- 

 teenth century, the Uganda Railway 

 and projected railways in Africa, etc. 

 One map, that of the region of the pro- 

 posed Nicaragua Canal, may be rightly 

 criticised for incompleteness, as it fails 

 to show the volcanoes, extinct or alive, 

 in the Nicaragua region. 



A Geological Study of the Fox Islands, 

 Maine. By Geo. O. Smith. Colby 

 College Bulletin, vol. ii, no. 1, April, 

 1902. Paper, $0.50; cloth, $0.75. 

 Summer visitors to the coast of Maine 

 will find Dr. Smith's little study of 

 North Haven and Vinal Haven Islands 

 an interesting companion to consult. On 

 the islands they will find the seat of an 

 ancient volcano, with its lavas and tuffs- 

 still well enough preserved to be recog- 

 nizable. In the book they may learn 

 how to unravel the history of the islands 

 from the rocks, and may discover the 

 cause of their peculiar and interesting 

 topography. The text is accompanied 

 by a geological map of the Fox Island 

 group. 



First Across the Continent — The story 

 of the Exploring Expedition of Lewis- 

 and Clarke in 1803-4-5. By -Noah 

 Brooks. 8vo, pp. xii + 364, map 

 and 24 cuts. New York : Chas. 

 Scribner's Sons. 1901. 

 This is a popular narrative of the well- 

 known expedition across the continent,, 

 which gave us our first authentic infor- 

 mation concerning its western part. It 

 is largely composed of extracts from the 

 journal of the explorers, supplemented 

 and tied together by the author. The 

 story of this remarkable expedition, 

 though often told, never loses its fresh 

 interest and romance, and Mr. Brooks' 

 book will be welcomed by thousands of 

 readers. 



