164 REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. : 
thoroughly worked out, and that this sketch with the accompanying 
map will be likely to prove of great service to thousands, who 
may by these means gain some knowledge of the structure of this 
portion of the earth’s surface. a 
A brief and accurate account of the principal vegetable forms 
found in the state, also a like account of its more prominent 
animals, might be introduced into this part of the volume, in sub- 
sequent editions, with no small advantage to the young and to all 
those who have not access to more purely scientific works. 
The volume also contains a short sketch of the climate of Mas 
sachusetts, with a climatological map, by Lorin Blodget, author 
of “Climatology of the United States.” This is an interesting 
feature of the work and is calculated to attract attention, espe 
cially in view of the marked prominence which the subject has ! 
recently assumed. 
Finally, there follows a series of maps to which the several 
portions of the work already mentioned really serve, and properly, 
ii 
as an introduction. Of these maps, three are general, one pemg 
of the United States and Territories, another of New England, i 
while the third is a railway and township map of Massachusetts. 
There come next maps of the several counties of the state, on Z 
scale of two and a half miles to an inch; and last of all, maps" 
Boston and vicinity, and of the other principal cities in the i I 
monwealth. p 
In the construction of these maps no small expense han ai 
incurred, and much care exercised. The compilers have a on T 
themselves of the results of the astronomical, trigonometriot f 
various local surveys, and have spared no pains in their eff | un | 
render their work deserving of confidence. While absolute d 
rectness has not been reached and is not claimed, a fair Aea ‘þe 
accuracy has been very generally secured. Though the eee 
3 
| 
| 
Sa te Agee ens ee ee nae ne. Se nn Fea, eee Sr 
hed in el , 
by no means equal to many of those recently publis : o 
under government patronage, they are yet, for the ordinary mt | 
ses for which they are likely to be consulted, calculated to ™ p 
most equally useful; and while the government maps T°” or 
are very expensive, these cost the buyer scarcely a tithe WP 
tion, and will be of immense practical value in rendering ® ot 
; he stal 
knowledge of the topography and physical features of t wee 
possible to citizens at large. cid step i 
The publication of this atlas being thus an impor 
