No. 405.] REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. 773 
and sedimentation ; the second with the chemical and mechanical 
processes of the earth’s interior. The book is illustrated with fifty- 
six text-figures, mostly in illustration of apparatus now exhibited in 
the museum. 
The experiments described are those which have been carried on 
in the author’s laboratory, as stated in the preface; this being the 
case, it is unfortunate that the account of apparatus and method 
is so brief that it would frequently be impossible to reproduce an 
experiment from the description given. The arrangement of the 
book is geological, but the text deals almost wholly with laboratory 
experiments; the geological application is not always clear, and in 
other cases the demonstration seems self-evident. Thus, particles 
of quartz are placed on a marble slab under a stretched elastic 
band, a weight is placed above, and the elastic slowly released. 
*Striations are produced comparable to those of glaciers.” The 
conclusion is stated that glaciers cannot move as they do without 
eroding their beds. Again, Elie de Beaumont is quoted as stating 
that deltas are characteristic and distinctive of the present epoch; 
M. Meunier is convinced, after experimental study of deltas, that 
analogous structures have always existed since sedimentation began 
— a conclusion not likely to be disputed. This elementary treat- 
ment of the subject, however, is perhaps justified by the popular 
quality of the work; the experiments are illustrative rather than 
conclusive, T. A. J., Jn. 
Maryland Geological Survey.' — The third volume of the Mary- 
land Geological Survey has been promptly issued and is as thorough 
and well executed as the earlier volumes. The subject is highway 
investigation ; Professor Clark, state geologist, contributes two chap- 
ters on organization and on the relation of the geography, geology, 
and climate of the state to road building. Excellent physiographic, 
geologic, and meteorologic maps of the state are presented, and micro- 
photographs showing the structure of the principal rocks which 
may be used as road metals. St. G. L. Sioussat gives an interest- 
ing historical chapter on the development and influence of highway 
legislation in Maryland, and A. N. Johnson describes exhaustively 
the present condition of the state highways and methods of road 
construction. The last three chapters are by Professor Reid, on 
experimental tests, administration, and highway economy. The 
! Maryland Geological Survey, vol. iii. Johns Hopkins Press, 1899. 461 pp. 
35 plates. 
