238 Scientific Intelligence. 



different administrations." It deals almost exclusively with 

 British practice. The engineering and theoretical aspects of 

 the subject are not dealt with explicitly so that the volume con- 

 tains nothing of scientific interest for the physicist or electrician. 

 On the other hand, the text will doubtless appeal to administra- 

 tors and economists who are interested in the numerous complex 

 problems which arise in connection with the development and 

 efficient maintenance of large telegraph systems. A fairly pre- 

 cise idea of the general plan of the book may be derived from the 

 following list of titles : The Acceptance of Telegrams from the 

 Public, The Centralising of Telegraph Traffic, Telegraph Instru- 

 ment Rooms, Telegraph Instruments, The Telegraph Organism, 

 The Delivery of Telegrams, Press Telegrams, Telegraph Tariffs, 

 and The Future of Telegraph Practice. h. s. u. 



II. Geology. 



1. Chemical Analyses of Igneous Bocks; by H. S. Washing- 

 ton ; U. S. Geol. Surv. ; Prof. Paper 99, 4°, pp. 1201. (Washing- 

 ton, 1917.) — This is a new edition, a revision and extension, of 

 Professional Paper 14 by the same author, published in 1903 

 and noticed in this Journal (16, 396, 1903). The first edition 

 contained 2881 analyses from 1884-1900 inclusive; the present 

 work carries them down to 1913 inclusive, and contains a num- 

 ber made in years 1884-1900 which were not in the first paper. 

 It presents, therefore, nearly all analyses published which are 

 of any value from 1884-1914. The total number listed is 8602. 



It may also be recalled that in Professional Paper 28* the 

 author has given us a selection of the best and usable analyses 

 from Roth's Tabelleu covering the years 1869-1884, so that in 

 conjunction with the present work we now have all the useful 

 analyses of igneous rocks from 1869 down to 1914 in convenient 

 form for ready reference. 



Washington's Tables have become so well known, and are 

 used so generally by petrologists, geologists, and chemists, that 

 it seems unnecessary to give a detailed account of them. How- 

 ever, it may be said that the general plan and scope of the work 

 remains the same. It opens with a discussion of the making, 

 use and value of analyses of rocks ; then come the listed analyses. 

 These are given under four headings ; Part I, Superior Analyses 

 of Fresh Rocks; of these there are 4980 and they are arranged 

 according to the Quantitative Classification, and the calculated 

 norm of each is given; Part II, Incomplete Analyses of Fresh 

 Rocks ; Part III, Superior Analyses of Altered Rocks and Tuffs ; 

 Part IV, Inferior Analyses. The last three are arranged under 

 the ordinary qualitative modal names. An appendix, containing 



♦Noticed in this Journal, 18, 237, 1904. 



