LITERARY NOTICES. 



281 



in belts which correspond closely with the 

 outcrops of the various geological formations. 

 Beginning at the northwest, we have the Kit- 

 tatinhy Mountain and Valley, occupying the 

 western half of Sussex and Warren counties, 

 and corresponding to the Palaeozoic forma- 

 tion ; next, the Archaean Highlands ; then the 

 rolling Triassic or red sandstone plain ; then 

 the furrowed and irregularly hilly cretaceous 

 plain; and, lastly, the triangular, extremely 

 level, sandy, and pine-clad plain of the Ter- 

 tiary formation, fringed seaward by a belt of 

 tide-marsh inclosed from the sea by sand- 

 beaches. These features are common to the 

 Atlantic slope southwest." In the detailed 

 review these belts divide themselves up into 

 alternating streaks of mountain and valley, 

 table and plain, of which twenty-four are 

 described. These divisions present, consid- 

 ering the limitations of the area, much di- 

 versity of aspect, from the mountain lands 

 of the northwest, studded with lakes, with 

 the trap dikes of the " red sandstone plain " 

 intervening, to the swamps and pine plains 

 and tidal plain and beach sands as we ap- 

 proach or when we reach the sea-coast. The 

 description is supplemented by a table giving 

 the areas of the several water-sheds, with the 

 percentage of forest upon them, and their 

 population per square mile , a list of bench- 

 marks at which the elevation above the sea 

 is exactly recorded ; and a much larger list 

 of elevations, from the latest and best deter- 

 minations of prominent points, referred to 

 mean sea-level. The paper on the Magnetic 

 Survey, recording observations at one hun- 

 dred and fifty-eight stations, reveals some 

 noteworthy irregularities in declination, par- 

 ticularly in regions of Archaean rock, and 

 near the trap ridges, where a tendency of the 

 needle toward a perpendicular to the crest- 

 line of the ridge is remarked upon. This 

 paper is accompanied by a chart showing 

 equal lines of declination for 1888. Prof. 

 Smock describes four natural climatic prov- 

 inces in the State, each of which has its pe- 

 culiar features : the Highlands and Kittatin- 

 ny Valley ; the Red Sandstone Plain ; the 

 Southern Interior ; and the Sea-shore, or At- 

 lantic Coast Belt. The first is not generally 

 marked by excessive extremes of tempera- 

 ture, but has rather a northern climate. The 

 last, though having nowhere a truly mild 

 winter climate — like that of southern Florida 



and California, etc. — affords pleasant winter 

 resorts. In view of the small area of the 

 State, the variety of conditions to be found 

 in New Jersey appears a little remarkable. A 

 fine topographic map, and an altitude map, 

 in which nine grades of elevation are indi- 

 cated by as many distinct shades of coloring, 

 are furnished in pockets. 



Activity is resumed by the Society for Po- 

 litical Education by the issue of a pamphlet, 

 No. 25 in its series, on Electoral Reform." 

 It sets forth the grave defects in the electo- 

 ral systems of most of the States, and ex- 

 plains the remedies therefor in secrecy of 

 ballot and other reforms. The "New York 

 (Saxton) Bill " and the " Massachusetts Bal- 

 lot Reform Act " are appended. The next 

 forthcoming publication of the society will 

 deal with the " Liquor Question in Politics," 

 and as soon as possible it will revise and re- 

 issue its list of standard works on economics, 

 political history and science, and economic 

 reforms, for the direction and aid of stu- 

 dents and the general reading public. The 

 society aims at awakening an intelligent inter- 

 est in governmental methods and purposes, 

 and at diffusing information concerning the 

 rights and duties of citizens. Mr. George 

 lies, secretary, 330 Pearl Street, New York, 

 invites the co-operation of all interested in 

 the society's work. 



Tlie Self: What is it? is the problem 

 which Mr. /. S. Malone attempts to answer 

 (J. P. Morton & Co., Louisville, 15 cents). 

 He divides the human mind into two parts 

 — intellect and sensibility — and affirms that 

 the faculty which causes all human activity 

 is desire, a subdivision of sensibility, chal- 

 lenging any one to find one voluntary human 

 action that can be traced back to intellect as 

 its primal cause. He deems intellect only 

 instrumental. He affirms that moral re- 

 sponsibility belongs also to sense, and that 

 the end of existence concerns only this de- 

 partment of mind. In the second division 

 of his book he maintains that intellect is an 

 offshoot from sense, and examines some of 

 Kant's doctrines. 



Mr. Frederic E. Ives has privately printed 

 in Philadelphia a brief account of his pro- 

 cess of photographing in colors, under the 

 title A New Principle in Heliochromy. He 



