420 GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



which is discussed in some detail with relation to climate, depth, tem- 

 perature of affluents, etc. In chapter VIII the colors are described and 

 the principal causes of coloration analyzed, while the mirage receives 

 attention ; and the succeeding chapter is devoted to extended considera- 

 tion of the solid and gaseous materials held in solution in the lacustral 

 waters. The portion of the work of widest interest is the tenth chapter 

 (pages 2I2-34;>), in which the geologic relations of the region and the 

 lakes are discussed at length, and which ends with a classification of the 

 water bodies by known or supposed origin. The historical and social 

 aspects of the lakes are indicated in the eleventh chapter, which is fol- 

 lowed by an extended descriptive table of the principal lakes of France, 

 with reference to the provinces in which they occur, and to the sheets of 

 the official maps on which they are represented. The work is fully in- 

 dexed and well supplied with lists of contents and illustrations. There 

 is little reference to the accompanying portfolio, which is really a distinct 

 publication; its sheets are variable in size and form and show little 

 more than the shores and subaqueous contours of the principal lakes; 

 and their convenience is somewhat diminished by inconstancy in contour- 

 intervals and bathymetric tints. The monograph forms a highly useful 

 compendium of facts arrange I in accordance with well-established scien- 

 tific principles. 



W J M. 



RAILROADS AND CANALS 



The important bearing which the great reduction in rates for 

 railway transportation has on the question of canal construction 

 and maintenance is attracting widespread attention. In a recent 

 letter to the committee on canals of the state of New York, the 

 Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, until now one of the staunchest friends 

 and advocates of the state canals, and one who has done more 

 to promote the cause of the New York state waterways than any 

 other living man, writes as follows : 



I was brought up in a school of politics which taught that the pros- 

 perity of the state of New York was created by the canals and could not 

 be maintained unless they were kept in a state of perfect efficiency. 



But a new condition has appeared in the great reduction of the cost of 

 transportation by the railways which compete with the canals for busi- 

 ness. This reduction is due to. several causes : notably, the greater dura- 

 bility and the lower cost of steel rails, the increase in the train-load, and 

 the economy of fuel in hauling a train. . . . My knowledge of the 

 subject inclines me to believe that we have reached a permanent era of 

 low cost of transportation by rail. . . . Hence the question is pre- 

 sented in altogether a new light, and although I am reluctant to come to 

 the conclusion that the canals have lost their usefulness, I confess freely 

 that the argument for their continued maintenance is greatly weakened 

 if not altogether destroyed. 



