578 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 537. 



In part II., on petrography, this matter is 

 taken up in greater detail and the conditions 

 controlling the crystallization of quartz dis- 

 cussed. The microlites of feldspar and the 

 metasilicates like the phenocrysts are essen- 

 tially the products of igneous fusion, but the 

 quartz is assumed to have crystallized under 

 hydrothermal conditions acting at a lower 

 temperature. These opinions are especially 

 significant, coming as they do from one of the 

 foremost French petrographers. 



Chapter IV. deals with the most evident 

 and apparent expressions of vulcanism^ — the 

 great clouds of vapor ladened with fragmental 

 material, the ' burning clouds ' (nuees arden- 

 tes) which swept down the flanks of Pelee 

 and annihilated Saint Pierre, mud-flows, etc. 

 Several chapters follow in which the different 

 violent eruptions are described and the theory 

 of the ' burning clouds ' is discussed. Chapter 

 IX. is an important one on the character and 

 distribution of the fragmental deposits and 

 their subsequent erosion. The first part closes 

 with an account of the various accessory phe- 

 nomena, as atmospheric electricity, changes in 

 atmospheric pressure, abnormal optical phe- 

 nomena, etc. 



Part II. consists of a systematic petrograph- 

 ical study of the recently erupted rocks in 

 which, it is interesting to note, the author 

 makes frequent use of the Quantitative Sys- 

 tem recently proposed by Cross, Iddings, Pirs- 

 son and Washington, finding it most conven- 

 ient for purposes of comparison. The mineral 

 composition and texture of the rocks are 

 described, and the conditions already men- 

 tioned, which have influenced the consolida- 

 tion of the magma, are discussed in detail. 

 The older rocks of Martinique and a number 

 from other islands of the Lesser Antilles are 

 compared, and a consideration of their chem- 

 ical composition leads to the recognition of a 

 well-marked petrographic province. 



In part III. Lacroix presents the results of 

 his observations on the products resulting 

 from the burning of Saint Pierre. The effect 

 of intense heat on metals, glass, structural 

 stone-work, etc., was often sufficient to cause 

 complete fusion, leading to the formation of 

 a considerable variety of secondary minerals. 



The book bears evidence in places of hasty 

 preparation and there is considerable needless 

 repetition, but, on the whole, it must be recog- 

 nized as the most complete and masterly pre- 

 sentation that has yet appeared of the facts 

 and problems related to the West Indian erup- 

 tions of 1902-3. The promptness with which 

 the final report was published after the close 

 of the field work deserves praise in itself, and 

 too much can not be said of the excellence of 

 the numerous illustrations which, with very 

 few exceptions, are from untouched photo- 

 graphs and are faithful records of the events 

 from soon after the disaster of May 8, 1902, 

 until the autumn of 1904. 



Ernest Howe. 



Washington, D. C, 

 March 22, 1905. 



SCIE'STIFIC JOURXALS AND ARTICLES. 

 The February number (volume 11, number 

 5) of the Bulletin of the American Mathemat- 

 ical Society contains the following articles: 

 Report of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of 

 the American Mathematical Society, by F. N. 

 Cole; 'Mathematical Progress in America' 

 (Presidential Address), by T. S. Fiske; Re- 

 port of the Sectional Meetings of the Heidel- 

 berg Congress (Continuation), by E. B. Wil- 

 son ; Report of the Breslau Meeting of the 

 Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung, by R. E. 

 Wilson ; ' The Construction of Conies under 

 Given Conditions,' by M. W. Haskell; Notes; 

 New Publications. 



The March number of the Bulhtin contains 

 the following articles : The Present Problems 

 of Geometry,' by Edward Kasner; Report of 

 the Fifty-fourth Annual Meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, by L. G. Weld; 'A Calculus for 

 Geometers ' (Review of Humbert's Cours 

 d'Analyse), by E. R. Hedrick; ' Halsted's Ra- 

 tional Geometry' (Review), by S. C. Davis- 

 son ; ' Tchebychef 's Theory of Congruences,' 

 by Andre Markoff; Notes; New Publications. 



The American Naturalist for February 

 opens with an article by J. S. Kingslcy, on 

 ' The Bones of the Reptilian Lower Jaw,' 

 showing the presence of an clement, the derm- 



