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UNITED STATES COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES. Part XIX. Report i of the Commission for the year end-I ing J u ne 30,1893. Was hington. 1895. j 8vo, pp. 142. ECONOMIC MIN ING. A practical handbook for the miner, the metallurgist, and the merchant. By C. G. Wam-ford Locke. London : E. & F. N. Spon. New York : Span & Chamberlain. 1895. Pp. 668. 8vo. 175 illustrations. Price $5. Notwithstanding the fairly abundant mining literature, there is no room for doubt that a book founded on the lines of this volume win supply a long felt want. The reason for this is, that by the rigid exclusion of matters having only an academic or historic interest, the space is afforded for dealing with just those points which are, perhaps, not of strictly scientific value, but which have. nevertheless, a high economic importance, and go far toward determining the profitable or unprofitable result of an undertaking. As mining and metallurgy are industrial pursuits, followed with a view of financial gain, the economic aspect is quite as deserving of study as the highly controversial questions regarding the history of strata, etc. Accepting the beds and lodes and veins as accomplished facts, the book endeavors to describe in plain language and with a practical aim how these deposits will best be worked under the various conditions encountered, and how the valuable portions of their contents can most cheaply and effectively be separated and prepared as marketable commodities. This is a most excellent book, and the author has acted very wisely in excluding the old processes, which are now interesting only from an historical point of view. AMERICAN WOODS. By Romeyn B. Hough, a uthor and pu blisher. Low-ville, N. Y. 1893. 8vo. Pp. 79. Illustrated, 75 samples of wood, port folio, in cloth case. Price $5. American Woods is a publication in book form illustrated by neatly arranged sections of wood, which have been sliced by an ingenious machine. Tt is issued in parts, like the above, which is Part l, each representing twenty-five species by seventy-five or more authentic and beautifully prepared specimens showing transverse, radial and tangential views of the grain. The design of this work is to show in as compact and perfect manner as possible the beauty and characteristic structure of the various timbers of our North American forests. The thin slices measure 2 by 5 inches and exhibit the grain in all aspects. They are so thin as to admit light through them. (The author also prepares lantern slides of wood, which prove very useful in teaching.) Each section is securely mounted in a cardboard frame of a purple black color, bearing the scientific or botanical name, in the English, German, French and Spanish languages. A single frame contains only the set of three sections of a single species. With these frames, which are separate. not bound together—so as to admit of being examined singly or arranged iri a window-is a pamphlet of text giving full information containing the various species represented. The author has been very careful about the identification of each tree selected for the specimen; hence he can vouch for the authenticity of every specimen represented. Mr. Hough had charge of the remarkaole New York State Forestry Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition. The work is also suppPed in other bindings and the specimens of wood or the text may be purchased singly. The author also prepares wooden cross section cards which are a novelty. The science of botany Is apt to make a very dry study, but it could easily be rendered more interesting by a collection of these woods. ANNUAL REPORT- OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST FOR THE YEAR 1894. By John C. Smock. State Geologist. Trenton, N. J. 1895. 8vo. Pp. 304. Plates, maps.
