Geographic Literature 



83 



IN TRIBUTE TO MARCUS BAKER 



THE following resolutions were 

 unanimously adopted by the U. S. 

 Board on Geographic Names at its last 

 meeting : 



Whereas death suddenly removed, on 

 Saturday, December 12, 1903, the faith- 

 ful Secretary of the United States Board 

 on Geographic Names, Mr. Marcus 

 Baker, be it resolved : 



1. That, realizing keenly the void 

 caused thereby in our Board, we, his 

 colleagues, give this public expression 

 to our warm appreciation of his private 

 character, and of the unflagging inter- 

 est with which Mr. Baker served this 

 organization almost from the beginning, 

 as Secretary and Editor. 



2. We join the scientific men of 

 Washington in deploring the loss of a 

 brilliant mathematician, an efficient 

 officer, a rare organizer, and a man 

 alive with enthusiasm over efforts made 

 for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 

 edge. 



3. We unite with all who knew him 

 in mourning over the death of a good 

 man, a warm friend, a wise counsellor, 

 and a public-spirited citizen. 



4. Especially do we sympathize with 

 his devoted wife and family in their sad 

 bereavement of a loving husband and a 

 devoted father. At the same time, we 

 would console them in their dark hour 

 with assurances that our common friend 



has left behind him fragrant memories 

 of a beautiful and successful life. 



The t emarkablephotograph of flamingo 

 nests on page 82 was taken by Mr 

 F. M. Chapman on a recent trip to the 

 Bahama Islands for the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History. Only one 

 flock of flamingoes is now known to in- 

 habit the United States, and the nest- 

 ing grounds of this flock have not yet 

 been discovered, though they are some- 

 where in the vicinity of Cape Sable, 

 Florida. Formerly the flamingo was 

 quite common on the coasts of Southern 

 United States, but the deep vermilion 

 of its plumage, set off by black wing 

 quills, made it too attractive to the 

 plumage hunter. Dr Chapman brought 

 back several of the nests which are now 

 on exhibition at the American Museum. 



"Area, population, commerce, reve- 

 nue, expenditures, indebtedness, cur- 

 rency, and stocks of money of the 

 principal countries of the world " is the 

 title of a statement just issued by the 

 Department of Commerce and Labor 

 through its Bureau of Statistics. The 

 statement includes all countries and 

 colonies for which statistics of commerce 

 and the other conditions above men- 

 tioned are available, and thus presents 

 an approximately complete picture of 

 commercial and financial conditions 

 throughout the entire civilized world. 



GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



Central Asia and Tibet. By Sven Hedin. 

 With 8 illustrations in color, 16 draw- 

 ings by distinguished artists, 400 

 photographs, and 4 maps. In 2 vols. 

 Large 8vo. New York : Chas. Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. 1903. $10 50 net. 

 The public have followed with extra- 

 ordinary and deserved interest the re- 

 markable explorations of Sven Hedin 

 in Turkestan and Tibet, 1 899-1 902, and 



have awaited the publication of his nar- 

 rative with impatience. The work was 

 hurried through the press, and appeared 

 in two handsome volumes during the 

 last month of 1903, simultaneously in 

 eleven different editions, in eleven 

 widely separated cities, and in nine 

 different languages. It was translated 

 from the Swedish by Mr J. T. Bealby, 

 who several years ago translated 



