Alaska

Abstract

IT is now nearly two years since we noticed in our pages (NATURE, vol. lxvi. p. 176) the two handsome volumes which were the first-fruits of the scientific holiday cruise in Alaska carried out in the summer of 1899 by a party of competent observers through the liberality of Mr. E. H. Harriman. Two further volumes of the series are now before us, one recording the observations made on glaciers and glaciation during the expedition, and the other dealing with the geology and palæontology of the places visited. Though necessarily of more restricted interest than the two first volumes, which dealt with general and varied topics, these books are scarcely one whit behind their predecessors as specimens of the printer's art, except in the matter of coloured plates. Profusely illustrated, well printed on good paper, and tastefully bound, it is evident that no expense has been spared in their production, and rarely do we find technical writings bedecked in such garb. The toned plates are beautifully reproduced, but the line drawings from photographs, which constitute most of the text figures, appear to have suffered to a certain extent from the very excellence of the paper, and would probably have shown to better advantage on the heavy smooth-surfaced product that we growl over so often in American books.

Alaska.

Vol. iii.—Glaciers and Glaciation. By G. K. Gilbert. Pp. 231; 18 plates and 106 text figures. Vol. iv.—Geology and Palæontology. By B. K. Emerson, C. Palache, W. H. Dall, E. O. Ulrich and F. H. Knowlton. Pp. 173; 32 plates and 18 text figures. (New York: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1904.)