GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE- 



Puerto Rico: Its Conditions and Possibilities. By William Dinwiddle. With 

 Illustrations from Photographs by the Author. Pp. 295. New York 

 and London : Harper & Brothers. 1899. $3.00. 

 Mr Dinwiddie's book excels as a minute description of the industrial 

 conditions and commercial possibilities of the island and in the excel- 

 lence of the illustrations made from views from his own camera. Those 

 who are merely interested in the utilitarian side of Porto Rico will find 

 this an excellent book of reference. The scientific statement is a little 

 halting, however. For instance, an illustration of one of the white lime- 

 stone hills between Utuado and Lares is entitled "coral formation," 

 when in fact it is one of the finest examples of the truly sedimentary 

 tropical oceanic white limestones we have ever seen. Mr Dinwiddie is 

 excusable, however, for many geologists have persisted in terming all the 

 tropical white limestones "coral formations." In the long chapter en- 

 titled " The Great Caves" the author commits the common but provok- 

 ing blunder of treating technical scientific publication as no publication. 

 In order to increase the reader's anticipation of his own glowing discov- 

 eries which are supposedly to follow, he begins this, chapter with the 

 remark that " it is astonishing how little is known about the geology of 

 the island." A few lines further on he says that the owner of the caves 

 " told us that several years ago an Englishman, a member of some British 

 scientific society, had paid a short visit to the caves, . . . and it is 

 quite likely that a report of its wonders has been published in the scien- 

 tific journals of Great Britain." Perhaps if the "scientific journals" 

 had been examined, in them would have been found at least an intelli- 

 gible description of the caves, which, so far as Mr Dinwiddie's researches 

 are concerned, only resulted in about 3,500 words of " padding," leaving 

 the reader in as profound a darkness concerning the nature and origin 

 of the caverns as that which must exist in these wonderful depths^at 

 least, he in no manner adds to that knowledge of the geology of the 

 island which he assumes to be so deficient. It is also regrettable that 

 Harper & Brothers permitted the use of the spelling " Puerto Rico," 

 which is no longer excusable, since the island has been officially desig- 

 nated Porto Rico by the United States government. The work is well 

 indexed and on the whole is a credit to its author and publishers. 



Robert T. Hill. 



Japan in 'Transition: A comparative study of the progress, policy, and 

 methods of the Japanese since their war with China. By Stafford 

 Ransome. Svo, pp. xvi-r 261, with 55 illustrations and 4 maps. Har- 

 per & Bros. : New York and London. 1899. 

 This book, written by a journalist trained in the study of foreign peo- 

 ples, aims to present a picture of the present life, customs, industries, 

 and politics of the Japanese, especially in their relations to the rest of the 



