Revieio of Recent Geological Literature. 
401 
Potomac division, has given his attention to the Potomac and later 
formations in the District of Columbia and in the states of the Atlantic 
slope; and he contributes a paper to this volume on the geology of 
the head of Chesapeake bay. 
Brief reports of the work of the Survey in paleontology are given by 
Prof. 0. C. Marsh, Mr. C. D. Walcott, Dr. C. A. White, and Mr. W. H- 
Dali; in paleobotany, by Mr. L. T. Ward; on fossil insects, by Mr. 
S. H. Scudder; in chemistry and physics, by Prof. F. W. Clarke; on 
mining statistics and technology, by Mr. Albert Williams, jr.; on 
forestry, by Mr. George W. Shutt; on the illustrations of the Survey 
publications, by Mr. W. H. Holmes; and on the library, and ex¬ 
change, sale, and distribution of the publications of the Survey, by Mr. 
Gharles C. Darwin. 
Besides the special papers which have been already mentioned, Mr. 
Joseph P. Iddings has one on the obsidian cliff in the Yellowstone 
National Park; Prof. William M. Davis treats of the structure of the 
Triassic formation of the Connecticut valley; and Mr. Thomas M. 
Chatard writes of salt-making processes in the United States. These 
and the other papers accompanying this report will be more fully 
noticed later. 
Elemente der Paleontologie , von Dr. Gustave Steinmann unter mit- 
wirkung von Dr. Ludwig Doderlein. I Halfte: Protozoa-Gastero- 
poda. 8 vo. pp. 336. 1888. 
This rather extended course in palaeontology is intended as a com¬ 
panion to Credner’s Elemente der Geologie ; and while primarily de¬ 
signed for European beginners in the study of ancient life, it is of con¬ 
siderable interest to students of this country on account of its recog¬ 
nition of American labor. Specifically, it is the adoption of a classifi¬ 
cation of the Crinoids proposed by Wachsmuth and Springer. With¬ 
out change the systematic arrangement of the Crinoidea as set forth 
by the American writers is selected in preference to that of Zittel and 
other European systematists. It is indeed gratifying to all American 
paleontologists to see this worthy estimate placed upon the morpholog“ 
ical studies and generalizations of two of their number. Inasmuch 
aSvthe Elemente are adapted especially for use on the continent, and 
the material which is to illustrate the text is almost exclusively Euro¬ 
pean, the work is not very well suited to the needs of those in this 
country wishing to acquire a fair acquaintance with the subject. The 
arrangement of the book, however, is very convenient and it would be 
well if some of our science text-books were constructed on a somewhat 
similar plan. The treatment of each class, or order, in the more im¬ 
portant geological groups, is prefaced by a brief bibliography of the 
principal works discussing the general morphological features of that 
particular group. Thus the pupil is immediately referred to the best 
literature on the group he is considering; and his collateral reading 
and study is only limited by his time and inclination. Keys to the 
chief families and genera are given under each class; also synoptic 
