Reviezv of Recent Geological Literature. 123 
the map tlie report is devoted to descriptive matter concerning the gen- 
eral gcolog}-, the descriptions being grouped about the different moun- 
tain ranges. Matters of general and theoretical interest are not in- 
cluded, these subjects having been discussed by the author elsewhere. 
u. s. G. 
First Biennial Report of the Director of the Agricultural College Sur- 
vey of North Dakota. Pages 18, with a folded map. Bismarck, 
1903. 
This survej' was organized in the summer of 1901 by the late pro- 
fessor Charles M. Hall, whose first report, here noted, was published 
after his death. It sets forth the plans which he had made, and por- 
tions of the work begun, for surveys of the soils, hydrography, topog- 
raphy, geologj', and biology of North Dakota. The accompanying geo- 
logic and economic map of the state, on the scale of about 17 miles to 
an inch, is very satisfactory in its delineation of the drift boundary, 
moraine belts, highest stage and deltas of lake Agassiz, and basins sup- 
plying artesian wells. Much information is also shown concerning the 
altitude and grand surface features, with approximate contour lines, 
the average annual rainfall at places where it has been observed during 
several or many years, and the situation of mines or workable out- 
crops of lignite coal beds in the extensive Laramie formation, which 
occupies the western half of the state, and also farther east forms the 
chief mass of the Turtle mountain on the international boundary. 
w. u. 
West Virginia Geological Survey, vol 11. I. C. White, State Geologist. 
pp. 725. Morgantown. 1903. $1.50. 
This volume is divided into three main parts, viz : Levels above 
tide ; True meridians and Report on coal. 
Notwithstanding the interruption which the survey suffered through 
the failure of the legislature to appropriate means at the session of 
1899, Dr White has fully redeemed the survey by the issuance of this 
fine volume. It was rendered possible by the legislature of 1901, which 
appropriated money for the survey, and by the patriotic generosity of 
the state geologist who cast into the general stock of knowledge his 
private notes accumulated during many years of expert examination in 
the coal districts of the state. 
The recent rapid development of the coals of West Virginia justi- 
fies the time and expense of this work. Not only have the commer- 
cial coal mines all been visited and sectioned, but average samples of 
their coals have been collected and subjected to chemical and calori- 
metric determinations. 
Dr White's classification of the Carboniferous system is essentially 
that published by him in 1891. Bull. 65. U. S. Geol. Survey, and supple- 
ments, and extends that of Rogers. It is shown by the following table. 
Dr. White remarks : "As will be seen from the foregoing diagram, 
the line separating the Middle and Upper Carboniferous divisions 
passes directly through the center of the Conemaugh series. This is 
