much more complete visual presentation of the complex variations of rock magmas than we have had before. previous similar works in ignoring added to show chemical variations. the conventional division of ore de- While not truly quantitative, this posits into metallic and non-metallic three-dimensional scheme admits of a groups. While geologists will not all agree with Lindgren's interpretation of many mineral deposits or with all the units of his classification, there can be few who will not recognize the breadth of his view and the very great value of his uniform method of treatment. Crystallography.-The appearance of the first volume of Goldschmidt's Atlas der Krystallformen is of international importance. This work will present, in six volumes of plates, reproductions of all published figures of crystals of all minerals, and will comprise in addition as many volumes giving the source and history of each figure. This sumptuous work fitly completes the monumental labor of the writer in compiling the whole literature of mineral crystallography in successive publications, first the Index of Forms, then the Tables of Angles, and now the Figures of Crystals of all crystallized minerals. Petrography. - The completion of Professor Iddings' work on Igneous Rocks marks a step forward in the science. This second volume is devoted to a description of the igneous rocks on the basis of a combination of the older qualitative with the newer American quantitative classification. The main advance is in the description of geographical distribution, which is taken up for each country on the basis of petrographic provinces and without full local description. No attempt is made, however, to give any idea of quantitative distribution. The bibliography is very extensive and will be very welcome to students in this field. Lincoln (Econ. Geol., VIII, 551) proposes to define more accurately the generally accepted rock names by introducing a scheme of percentage composition of the mineral constituents. These are divided into leucocratic (quartz, feldspars, and feldspathoids) and melanocratic (ferromagnesian minerals and ores), and a three-fold division according to relative amounts of these two groups is applied three times, yielding types in which the presence of as little as four per cent. of one mineral may affect the classification. The scheme appears practical, and as a further contribution to its application the same author (ibid., VIII, 120) has elaborated the methods of determining the percentage mineralogical composition of rocks by the measurement of thin sections. His Metamorphism. - The problems of dynamic and igneous metamorphism offer an attractive field for speculation, but as yet have proved for the most part unsolvable. Uglow (ibid., VIII, 19, 215) has assembled some of the more striking evidence relating to the formation of silicate zones in limestones at igneous contacts. summary of conclusions favors the view that the silicates are formed almost wholly from material originally present in the limestones. His interpretation of evidence, however, is not always free from bias, and an opposite conclusion, namely, that large amounts of material, such as iron and silica, have been transferred to the The introduction of the quantitative limestone from the intrusive magma, element into petrology is notable in appears in many cases inevitable. the recent American literature. Win- Bastin (Jour. Geol., XXI, 193) dischell (Jour. Geol., XXI, 208) pro- cusses the same problem of transfer poses an improvement on the widely of material in dynamic metamorphism, used tabular scheme of classification maintaining a position previously of the igneous rocks, based on Rosen- taken that complete recrystallization busch's work, which is two-dimension- of sediments may occur without senal, involving as coördinates the min- sible change of their chemical chareral composition and geological con-acter, and that therefore it is possible ditions of formation. By an ingenious to establish a chemical criterion for arrangement of transparent super- the origin of crystalline metamorphics. posed sheets of paper printed in dif- The general physico-chemical prinferent colors, a third coördinate isciples underlying metamorphic pro cesses are discussed by Johnston and Niggli (ibid., XXI, 481) in a paper which emphasizes very strongly the complexity of the group of problems involved, the paucity of our knowledge of the actual physical data, and the great difficulty of reaching, with our present means, any final conclusions as to process or product. INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS J. B. WOODWORTH The International Geological Congress, the first session of which was held in Europe in 1881, has ever since maintained an official character under the auspices and with the financial support of the government of the country in which the convention is held. Its delegates are appointees of the several governments having official geological bureaus, together with those persons delegated by like institutions or universities which may be invited to send delegates. Thrice the congress has met in North America: in the United States, at Washington, in 1891; in Mexico, at the capital, in 1906; and in Canada, at Toronto, in 1913. The twelfth session of the Congress convened in the halls of the University of Toronto on Aug. 7 for its one-week session under the Presidency of Prof. F. D. Adams of McGill University, and under the patronage of the Governor-General, H. R. H. the Duke of Connaught, Prime Minister Borden, and other officials of the Dominion, and with the indispensable aid of the staff of the Geological Survey of Canada. The work of the Congress covered, as usual, the week devoted to the reading of papers, discussions, and the passing of resolutions concerning international coöperation, and geolog ical excursions conducted both before and after the meeting. The most important item at the meeting was the presentation of the report of the committee on the world's known coal supply; this report is available in a printed document with an atlas of geological maps of the several workable coal fields (see Economic Geology, supra, and XX, Coal, Coke, and Petroleum). Two subjects assigned for discussion at this session, Pre-Cambrian geology and the evidences of interglacial epochs and climatic cycles, were considered in papers by A. C. Lawson, W. D. H. Collins, J. J. Sederholm, on the Pre-Cambrian; and by W. Wolff, W. von Lozinski, M. Manson, and G. W. Lampugh, on the interglacial question, respectively. A diversity of opinion still exists as to the identity and best method of naming and classifying the Pre-Cambrian. The verity of the subdivision of the Glacial Period into epochs of glaciation and non-glaciation appears to be unquestionable in the large continental areas of northern Europe and cial periods there is as yet no agreeNorth America. On the cause of gla ment. Another series of papers dealt with igneous rocks and their origin. Such were those read by R. A. Daly on "Sills and Laccoliths Illustrating Petrogenesis"; by H. S. Washington on "Volcanic Cycles in Sardinia"; and by A. Harker on "Fractional Crystallization, the Prime Factor in the Differentiation of Rock-magmas." The same subject was presented from quite a different point of view by W. H. Hobbs in a paper entitled "Variations in Composition of Pelitic Sediments in Relation to Magmatic Differentiation." Metamorphism was touched upon in a paper by J. J. Sederholm "On Regional Granitization." A few papers relating to ore deposits of interest to mining geologists were also presented; notably those by J. F. Kemp on "Influence of Depth on Character of Metalliferous Deposits," and that by W. H. Emmons on "The Mineral Composition of Primary Ore as a Factor Determining the Vertical Range of Metals Deposited by received attention in a paper by C. Secondary Processes." Paleography Scheuchert on "The Delimitation of the Geologic Period Illustrated by the Paleography of North America." For the student of Canadian geology and mining districts, the most important result of the Congress is to be found in the Guide Books prepared by members of the Geological Survey for the immediate use of those who attended the numerous field excursions, which covered the important mining districts from coast to coast. There are ten of these books, illustrated with sections and maps, many of them specially drawn from heretofore unpublished field researches, giving in condensed form a summary of the present state of knowledge concerning the geology of Canada from the Maritime Provinces to the Pacific Coast, not excluding the Yukon and other districts in the far Northwest. The titles of the different volumes are as follows: 1. Eastern Quebec and the Maritime II. Haliburton-Bancroft Area of III. Morin Anorthosite Area; Monte- Ottawa. IV. Niagara and Iroquois Beach; Pa- had been preceded on the afternoon of Dec. 7, 1912, by a slight shock in the same region. On April 28 a sharp shock occurred along the St. Lawrence Valley bordering the state of New York. It was felt over all the northern part of the state, north of the Mohawk Valley, over a large area in Ontario and a small part of Vermont. The area over which it was sensible was probably more than 45,000 sq. miles. On Oct. 1, at 11.25 p.m., a very strong disturbance occurred in the province of Los Santos, Panama. In the town of Los Santos the cathedral and the Governor's Palace were wrecked and other buildings damaged. The shock was strongly felt along the Canal Zone and a few cracks were made in concrete buildings in the town of Panama, about 120 miles northwest of the center. It was about as strong in the province of Chiriqui, about the same distance to the northwest. Some fear was felt for the Canal, but an examination showed that the locks had not been injured. Three hours after the shock the Central and South American cables broke 150 miles north of Panama; the relation of this incident to the earthquake is not clear, unless the time is in error. Twentysix tremors in the were reported at Los Santos during the night of Oct. 1. Later shocks at the same place, on Oct. 4, 6, 11, 23, and Nov. 13 were felt at Panama; they did no damage, though they caused some anxiety. The seismograph at Ancon recorded a slight preliminary shock (unfelt) at 1.40 p.m. on Oct. 1, and 11 others were recorded within 16 hours. The heavy shock threw the markers off the recording drum. Thirty-one shocks, most of them not felt, had been registered by Oct. 14. VI. Toronto and Vicinity; Moraines VII. Sudbury-Cobalt-Porcupine. C. P. R. and C. N. R. EARTHQUAKES AND HARRY FIELDING REID Earthquakes. The year opened with a fairly strong shock in the northwestern part of South Carolina, felt over an area of 30,000 or 40,000 sq. miles, including parts of Georgia, North Carolina, and possibly Virginia. In Union County, S. C., furniture was displaced, chimneys were thrown down, and cracks were made in a few stone and brick buildings. The shock occurred at 1.27 p.m. on Jan 1. It region and did some damage in south- | a little after 8 o'clock on July 29 ern Mindanao. A moderate shock was felt on the St. Lawrence River near the mouth of the Saguenay on the evening of Oct. 23, 1912. At 5.15 a.m. on Dec. 11, 1912, a moderate shock was felt from Augusta, Me., to beyond Fredericton, N. B., and was sensible over an area of 15,000 to 20,000 sq. miles. A very light shock occurred in southern Rhode Island upon Nov. 3. A series of trifling shocks were felt in Atlantic City, N. J., on Nov. 6, 1912. On Oct. 22, at 8.15 p.m., a light shock was felt between Dublin and Macon, Ga., over an area of about 1,500 sq. miles. Another light shock was recorded at midnight on March 13 in Gordon County, Ga. A sharp, but very local, shock was felt at Knoxville, Tenn., at 4.50 p.m. on March 28; it was strong enough to throw bricks from some chimneys, to throw pictures from the wall, and to overturn some bookcases, but it was felt only over an area of 2,000 sq. miles. Another light shock was felt at 1 a.m. on May 2. On April 17, at 11.30 a.m., a similar shock had its center in Madisonville, Tenn., about 30 miles southwest of Knoxville. Humboldt, Tenn., felt a slight shock on June 9. over an area of about 1,500 sq, miles, lying between Tacoma and Mount Rainier. A shock was felt over the southeastern part of Idaho and the northeastern part of Utah at 1.25 a.m. on April 12. It was central over Swan Lake, Idaho, and was felt over an area of 8,000 sq. miles; a second light shock came 10 minutes later. Seward, Alaska, reported a slight shock on the evening of Nov. 6, 1912; its origin was probably submarine and some distance away. A similar light shock was felt at Sitka at 4 p.m. on Nov. 21, 1912. A series of moderate shocks were reported from the West Indies: from Santiago de Cuba on the evening of Decc. 20, 1912, and again the next morning; from Vieques, P. R., at 9.05 a.m. on June 21; and from St. Thomas and the neighboring islands early on July 24. Martinique experienced light shocks on the morning of Dec. 22, 1912, at mid-day on March 22, and very early on June 18; the last shock was reported as severe, but no damage was done. A very severe disturbance shook the central states of Mexico at 7.19 a.m. on Nov. 19, 1912. It seems to have been felt over an area of about 200,000 In southern California slight shocks sq. miles, from the state of Durango were felt at Oxnard, Dec. 14, 1912, to the state of Guerrero; it was at Santiago and Lakeside on Feb. 14, strongest to the north and northwest at Riverside on March 10, at San Ber- of Mexico City and caused considernardino on April 13, and at Los An- able damage. Guadalajara suffered a geles on Oct. 21. A number of light shock on Dec. 2, 1912, and the light shocks were felt at Mount Ham- state of Pueblo, about 100 miles east ilton on Oct. 20 and 24 and Nov. of Mexico City, on Feb. 21. Destruc16, 1912. The disturbance of Oct. tive shocks did much damage in the 24, 1912, occurred between seven province of Santa Rosa, Guatemala, and eight p.m. and consisted of three on the morning of March 8. Cuilapa shocks, two of which were felt also at seems to have been the center of Santa Clara, Stanford University, and the disturbance; buildings were overSanta Cruz. A light shock was felt thrown and 32 school children are at Ukiah on the evening of Aug. 20. reported to have been killed. Light A light shock occurred in the neigh- shocks were felt near Trujillo, Spanish borhood of San Francisco Oct. 25, Honduras, on April 13 and May 2, 1913. In the northwest, three light 1913. Strong shocks were reported shocks were reported from Seattle on from Masaye, Nicaragua, on Oct. 17. the evening of Nov. 24, 1912. A shock A strong shock was felt throughout was also reported from Vancouver, Ecuador at 9.40 p.m. on Feb. 22 and B. C., three days earlier, in the after- did much damage in the province of noon. A light shock was felt at Med- Loja and Canar; lighter shocks folford, Ore., March 15, at 12.40 p.m., lowed on Feb. 26 and on March 1 and another at Roseburg, 60 miles to and 2. A destructive shock destroyed the northwest, at 6.30 the same even- the town of Caraveli, Peru, on Aug. 6, ing. Two sharp shocks were reported and much damage was done by an earthquake in the department of Apurimac on Nov. 7. A moderate shock was felt at Honolulu and on the neighboring islands at 5.45 a.m. on Oct. 13, 1912; it was reported that the lava was rising rapidly in the crater of Kilauea, but this report seems to have been erroneous. A light shock was felt at Hilo and vicinity on May 18. Volcanoes. During the summer of 1913, vessels plying about the Aleutian Islands reported smoke and ashes and acid fumes in the air, but it is not clear from what volcano they is sued; the continual fogs in that region make it often impossible to see the volcanoes. On Jan. 20 the volcano Colima in southwest Mexico burst into violent eruption; great quantities of ashes were ejected, but very little lava flowed out. Ashes from this eruption fell as far away as Guadalajara, 100 miles distant from Mount Colima; near the mountain they were several feet deep. About two years ago an observatory, under the direction of Prof. T. A. Jaggar, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was built on the volcano of Kilauea. Observations on volcanic and seismic phenomena are carried on steadily. The boiling lava in the crater is subject to great fluctuations of level. In June and July, 1912, the lava rose and was extremely active; many so-called "fountains" threw the liquid lava to heights of 20 or 30 ft. above the surface of the lava lake. There was another slight rise from December, 1912, to February, 1913, since which date the level of the lava lake has sunk very low. Day has discovered water vapor in the gases issuing from the crator, the existence of which had heretofore been denied (see Economic Geology, supra); and Perret has discovered evidence of former explosive outbursts, though the activity of Kilauea has been supposed to be confined to a simple outpouring of lava. METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATOLOGY temperatures for certain stations in Solar Radiation.-The most important meteorological results of the work of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution are the determination of the value of the solar constant, which is now given as 1.932 cal. per sq. cm. per minute on the basis of 696 series of observations (1902-12); and the proof of the sun's variability, occurring irregularly in periods of a week or 10 days (Annals Astrophys. Obsy. Smithson. Instn., III, 1913). The eruption of Mt. Katmai, in June, 1912, resulted in a series of phenomena, the investigation of which contributed notably to the meteorological literature of the year. H. H. Kimball has studied the effects of the volcanic dust upon solarradiation intensities and sky-light polarization (Bull. Mt. Weather Obsy., V, Pt. 5. 1913). The haze caused a marked decrease in atmospheric transparency (Month. Weather Rev., XLI, 1913). C. G. Abbot and F. E. Fowle have presented evidence that the dust layer affected terrestrial temperatures, especially of high stations, and find a remarkable correspondence between Clouds and Fog.-Professor Humthe departures of the mean maximum phreys has also considered the violent Diurnal Variation of the Barometer. -Professor Humphreys has reviewed the suggested causes of the diurnal variation of the barometer, and concludes that the forenoon maximum and afternoon minimum are forced, while the evening maximum and morning minimum are caused by the twelvehour free vibration of the atmosphere in response to the combined influence of both the forced disturbances (ibid., V, Pt. 2, 1912). |