240 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vor. XXXV. 
of the descriptive portion of the science, but it is also a very brief 
but quite satisfactory treatise on blowpipe analysis. It contains 
also a discussion of crystallography and a summary of the principles 
of physical mineralogy. That the authors have attempted to cover 
too much ground in the volume might be judged from this summary 
of its contents. Everything discussed, however, is so concisely 
put that the parts of the book are fairly well proportioned. The 
chapters on the optical, thermal, and electrical properties of minerals 
are so brief that they possess little value. But since these proper- 
ties are those of least importance to a class of students beginning 
the study of the science, perhaps this fault is not of practical 
moment. 
In the opinion of the writer the discussions are throughout the 
book so compactly condensed that it cannot be used successfully as 
a text-book. "There are too many points in it that need amplifica- 
tion. As an accompaniment to a course of lectures on mineralogy, 
however, it seems to be very well suited. Indeed, it is an excellent 
book for use in this way. The volume is not as large as Dana’s 
Text-Book of Mineralogy, and therefore is better suited to courses 
extending through half a year; and yet, at the same time, it is not 
as small in size nor as elementary in the treatment of its subject- 
matter as are most of the Elementary Mineralogies on the market, 
most of which are entirely. without value for class-room purposes. 
The changes noted in the new edition as compared with the old 
one are: the treatment of crystallography according to the newly 
accepted classification of crystal forms, the addition of about one 
hundred figures illustrating the combination of forms observed on 
definite mineral species, the revision of the chapters relating to blow- 
pipe analysis, the addition of a description of the spectroscope and 
its use, the complete revision of the paragraphs dealing with the 
economic uses of the different minerals and the simplification of the 
part devoted to determinative mineralogy. 
The book is well printed on good paper. The figures illustrating 
crystals are for the most part beautifully clear, but most of the wood- 
cuts supposed to represent the appearance of minerals as they actu- 
ally occur in nature are poor. They might well be omitted without 
affecting the value of the book a mite. W. S. B. 
common or useful minerals, the tests necessary for their identification, the recog- 
nition and measurement of their crystals, and a concise statement of their uses in 
the arts. New enlarged edition. New York, D. van Nostrand Company, 1900. 
413 pp. 664 figs. 
