Geographic Literature 



*35 



international relations, foreign politics, 

 and recent events are worthy of most 

 careful perusal, giving as they do an 

 insight into the causes of the present 

 war. A. W. G. 



The Land of Riddles (Russia of Today). 



By Dr Hugo Ganz. Translated from 

 the German by Herman Rosenthal. 

 Pp. vi + 331. New York: Harper 

 and Brothers. 1904. $2.00 net. 

 This volume is not a study of Rus- 

 sian institutions, but a compilation of 

 journalistic articles based on interviews 

 with various officials and business men. 

 Dr Ganz doubtless made the most of his 

 opportunities in Russia, but his guesses 

 must be received as such and not as 

 solutions of the current complex prob- 

 lems — economic, military, and polit- 

 ical — which seriously threaten the sta- 

 bility of Russian institutions. Labor, 

 education, the press, military adminis- 

 tration, methods of public business, are 

 riddles which Dr Ganz does not con- 

 sider. A. W. G. 



North America. By Israel Cook Rus- 

 sell. Illustrated. Pp. x-f-435. New 

 York: D. Appleton and Co. 1904. 

 This important volume in the World 

 Series is highly commended as not only 

 specially worthy of study by geograph- 

 ical students, but also of interest to gen- 

 eral readers. Topography and geol- 

 ogy are admirably treated, under the 

 head of five physiographic provinces, 

 though with too great fullness. The 

 chapter on climate, following text-book 

 methods, fails to convey, to unscientific 

 readers at least, an adequate idea of the 

 dominant or varying weather conditions 

 of North America, and the illustration 

 of the ice palace, while attractive, is not 

 in harmony with the rest of the volume. 



The omission from the volume of po- 

 litical or economic geography is to be 

 regretted, especially when it is consid- 

 ered that from these standpoints the 

 influence of this continent has very ma- 

 terially modified the march of human 



progress throughout the entire world. 

 The aborigines are treated most graph- 

 ically and the views advanced regarding 

 them command respect, although not 

 always convincing. The most instruct- 

 ive matter is the recognition and pres- 

 entation of the admirable work of Dr C. 

 Hart Merriam, who has solved the prob- 

 lem of geographical life distribution, by 

 the formulation of the life-zones and 

 crop-zones of North America. Professor 

 Russell writes in a clear style and log- 

 ical manner, qualities not always com- 

 bined, and this volume will add to his 

 literary and scientific reputation. 



A. W. G. 



Fetichism in West Africa* By Robert 

 Hamill Nassau. Pp. xvii + 389. Il- 

 lustrated. New York: Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. 1904. $2.50 net. 

 This is an important contribution to 

 our knowledge of the religious beliefs 

 and superstitions of the natives of French 

 Congo and adjacent regions. It is the 

 outgrowth of forty years of missionary 

 work by Dr Nassau, and justifies the 

 action of the American Board of Foreign 

 Missions in fostering its preparation. 

 Preexistence, spirit power, nature ado- 

 ration, and ancestor worship are the 

 bases on which rest the universal prac- 

 tices in Africa of witchcraft, charms, 

 blood-sacrifices, and other forms of feti- 

 chism. Its practical effects in depopu- 

 lation, assassination by poison, and co- 

 ercion are vividly described, as also the 

 strange secret societies of various kinds 

 which exist among the women. The 

 folklore reveals the existence of tradi- 

 tions also prevalent far remote from 

 Africa. A. W. G. 



Japanese Life in Town and Country. 



By George William Knox. Pp. xii + 



267. Illustrated. New York: G. R. 



Putnam's Sons. 1904. 



This volume, partly a reprint of vari- 

 ous articles, is an interesting, sketchy 

 account of every-day life as seen during 

 fifteen years' residence in Japan. The 



