Geology and Mineralogy. 357 



Professional Paper 85. Contributions to General Geology, U. S. 

 Geological Survey. — This paper records many facts in regard to 

 the mud lumps, those temporary islands of mud which swell up 

 from the bottom of the mouths of the Mississippi. It is shown in 

 this paper that they are especially common near the mouths of 

 the passes, where the front of the delta is relatively steep. They 

 are found to be thick masses of clay, ascribed by Shaw to the 

 squeezing out of clay layers farther inland owing to the greater 

 pressure above in that region. From the geologic standpoint 

 they are therefore noteworthy in showing under special conditions 

 the capacity of clay sediments for lateral flow. j. b. 



13. La Face de la Terre (Das Antlitz der JErde), par Ed. 

 Stjess ; traduit avec l'autorisation de l'auteur et annote sous la 

 direction de Emmanuel de Margerie. Vol. Ill, Part III. Pp. 

 xi, 957 to 1350, with one colored map, 2 plates, and 92 figures. 

 Paris, 1913 (Librairie Armand Colin). — Eighty of the figures 

 have been drawn especially for this French edition and constitute 

 a most valuable addition to the volume. In the original work, 

 the absence of good maps either left the reader with vague men- 

 tal pictures of the regions described or required him to make use 

 of a good geological library to supplement the text. The illus- 

 trations of the present volume, furthermore, are up to date, and 

 excellently drawn. This comprehensive work thus is kept in the 

 front rank of manuals of geology. The present volume treats of 

 the structure of part of Africa, of the island chains off the coast 

 of Asia, the Polynesian chains, and the American Cordillera. 



J. B. 



14. Water and Vblanic Activity, by Arthur L. Day and E. 

 S. Shepherd. Bulletin of Geological Society of America, vol. 

 xxiv, pp. 573-606, pis. 17-27, 1913. — In the past few years the 

 problem of the nature of volcanic emanations has attracted much 

 attention. Brun especially has argued sweepingly that, contrary 

 to older views, water was practically absent and that the clouds 

 issuing from the volcano consisted chiefly of chlorine and sulphur 

 gases. The numerous subsidiary problems affected by this con- 

 clusion makes its verification or refutation of high importance. 

 The present paper gives the evidence from Kilauea. A prelimin- 

 ary discussion of the arguments of Brun suggests that they are 

 really not conclusive, but the final test was made by collecting 

 gases issuing from the molten lava. Water instead of being 

 absent was so abundant that it condensed in quantity in the col- 

 lecting apparatus. Next in importance came C0 2 and N 2 . Occur- 

 ring in lesser proportion were found CO, H 2 , and S0 2 . J. b. 



15. Zeitschrift fur Vulkanologie. Herausgeber Immanuel 

 Friedlaestder, Naples. Band I, Heft 1, January, 1914. — This 

 new journal, as its name implies, is planned as a medium for the 

 publication of the literature of vulcanology. In this issue are 

 original articles by Brun, Ponte, Perret, and Friedlaender. It 

 should aid in the progress of vulcanology by stimulating study 

 and centralizing the literature into a recognized special publica- 

 tion, j. b. 



