Geology and Natural History. 149 



The author thinks it wise to refer the Richmondian series to 

 the Silurian (see plate 3 and pages 1476-1483), but nothing is 

 said in his preface about this radical departure from the long 

 accepted usage of regarding this series as the closing one of the 

 Ordovician. c. s. 



4. Fifth Annual Report of the Director of the Bureau of 

 Mines for the year ending June SO, 1915. Pp. 106; 1 plate, 1 fig. 

 Washington, 1915. — The death, last July, of Dr. Joseph A. 

 Holmes, under whom, as director, the Bureau of Mines was 

 organized and developed to a high degree of efficiency, was a 

 great blow to all the interests involved. Fortunately it has been 

 possible for one of his former associates, Mr. Van. H. Mannig, to 

 take up his task and carry on the work. The progress made, up 

 to July first, along the lines already laid down, is shown in the 

 present Report ; until near the end of his life, Dr. Holmes, 

 although driven to Colorado by failing health, was able to exer- 

 cise general supervision of the work going on. 



The essential objects of the Bureau, as well understood, are to 

 protect the safety and health of mine workers, and to promote 

 greater efficiency and diminish the waste in the production of our 

 mineral resources. These fundamental objects have so many 

 applications of different kinds that a brief summary of the work 

 of the past year includes the enumeration of upward of fifty 

 investigations. It is found, however, that the demands upon the 

 Bureau grow more rapidly than the ability to meet them, so that 

 increased funds and equipments are urgently called for. The 

 total sum disbursed for the year under consideration was only 

 $730,000, a small amount in consideration of what was accom- 

 plished. The publications of the year include 12 bulletins, 18 

 technical papers and 4 minor circulars, and more than 950,000 

 copies of these were distributed. 



The following are the titles of Bulletins recently issued (see 

 vol. xl, p. 87): 



No. 72. Occurrence of explosive gases in coal mines; by N. H. 

 Darton. Pp. 248; 7 pis., 33 figs. 



No. 75. Rules and regulations for metal mines; by W. R. 

 Ingalls, James Douglas and others. Pp. xvi, 296; 39 tables. 



No. 94. United States mining statutes annotated; by J. W. 

 Thompson. Part I. Sections and statutes relating to metallifer- 

 ous and coal mining. Pp. xxxix, 860. Part II. Miscellaneous 

 mining subjects. Pp. xxxv, 861-1772. 



No. 98. Report of the Selby Smelter Commission; by J. A. 

 Holmes, Edward C. Franklin and Ralph A. Gould. With 

 accompanying papers. Pp. xv, 528; 41 pis., 14 figs. 



No. 101. Abstracts of current decisions on mines and mining, 

 October, 1914, to April, 1915; by J. W. Thompson. Pp. xiv, 

 136. 



5. Determinative Mineralogy ; by J. Volnkt Lewis. Second 

 revised Edition. Pp. 155. New York, 1915 (John Wiley and 

 Sons). — This book, the original edition of which appeared in 1912, 



