Methods, Wrinkles, and Practical Hints for the Household and the Shop. New York: The Industrial Publication Company. Pp. 164. 35 cents.
Genesis I.-II.: An Essay on the Bible Narrative of Creation. By Augustus R. Grote, A.M. New York: Asa K. Butts. 1880. Pp. 82. 50 cents.
Theology and Mythology: An Inquiry into the Claims of Biblical Inspiration and the Supernatural Element of Religion. By Alfred H. O'Donoghue. New York: Charles P. Somerby. 1880. Pp. 194.
The Art of Cooking: A Series of Practical Lessons. By Matilda Lees Dods. of the South Kensington School of Cookery. Edited by Henrietta de Condé Sherman. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1880. Pp. 226. $1 25.
The Younger Edda; also called Snorre's Edda, or the Prose Edda. With an Introduction, Notes, Vocabulary, and Index By Rasmus B. Anderson, Professor of the Scandinavian Languages in the University of Wisconsin, etc. Chicago: S. C. Griggs & Co. 1880. Pp. 302. $2.
Report of the Director of the New York Meteorological Observatory Department of Public Parks, City of New York, for the Year ending December 31, 1878. Illustrated. New York, 1879. Pp. 70.
Zoölogy for Students and General Readers. By A. S. Packard, Jr., M.D., PhD. With numerous Illustrations. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1879. Pp. 719. $3.
POPULAR MISCELLANY.
Geology of the Far West.—Last summer Professor Geikie, of the University of Edinburgh, came over here to study the geology of our Western Territories, the remarkable peculiarities of which have excited much interest abroad; and he has recently made his explorations the subject of a very interesting lecture before his class. From a summary of the discourse, published in "Nature," we gather the following instructive particulars: Professor Geikie had three objects in view in the expedition: 1. To study the effects of atmospheric and river erosion upon the surface of the land; 2. To mark the relation which the structure of the rocks underneath bore to the form of the surface; and, 3. To watch some of the last phases of volcanic action. In crossing the prairies toward the Rocky Mountains he noted the singular fact that their surface was "veneered" with a thin coating of pinkish, fine-grained sand, its color being due to small pieces of fresh feldspar. It was clear that this mineral, as well as fragments of quartz and topaz found with it, did not belong to the strata on which they lay. In going west, the grains of sand, getting coarser, assumed the form of distinct pebbles, and on reaching the mountains became huge blocks and bowlders, evidently derived from the heights beyond. The name, "Rocky Mountains," the Professor regards as singularly misapplied. On most maps of North America a continuous line of lofty ridge is represented as extending down the axis of the continent, and marked "Rocky Mountains." No such ridge, however, is to be found. The great plateau had been wrinkled by numberless meridional folds, which, dying out, have been replaced by others. Some of these folds form mountain-ranges with wide basins between them. It is, however, possible to cross the axis of the continent without climbing over mountains of any kind, and the Union Pacific Railroad follows one of these natural routes. So little did the landscape suggest great altitudes that at an elevation of eight thousand feet a wooden placard had been erected, bearing the title "Summit of the Rocky Mountains." Going westward to Denver, the Professor halted on the borders of the great mountain-range that forms the bulwarks of the parks of Colorado. These crests of crystalline rock have been forced up like a great wedge through the cretaceous and tertiary strata of the prairies, carrying the latter up with them in a grandly picturesque curve along their flanks. An excursion into some of the mountain gorges or cañons brought to light the source of the pink feldspar sand of the prairie; great masses of pink granite, gray gneiss, and feldspar form the core of the mountains; these are visibly crumbling into the same kind of pink sand and gravel. The mountains have been covered with glaciers which have flowed out into the plains, and there shed their huge horseshoe-shaped moraines. Having crossed the watershed of the continent. Professor Geikie struck westward into the Uintah Mountains, one of the few ranges in that region that has an east and west direction. It forms one of the most remarkable elevations in North America. Unlike the other mountainous high grounds it possesses no great central core of crystalline azoic rocks, but consists of a vast flattened dome of red sandstones, dipping steeply down beneath mesozoic rocks on either flank. One feature of surpassing
