Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/165

 international relations, foreign politics, and recent events are worthy of most careful perusal, giving as they do an insight into the causes of the present war.

A. W. G.

By Dr Hugo Ganz. Translated from the German by Herman Rosenthal.

Pp. vi + 331. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1904. $2.00 net.

This volume is not a study of Russian institutions, but a compilation of journalistic articles based on interviews with various officials and business men. Dr Ganz doubtless made the most of his opportunities in Russia, but his guesses must be received as such and not as solutions of the current complex problems — economic, military, and political — which seriously threaten the stability of Russian institutions. Labor, education, the press, military administration, methods of public business, are riddles which Dr Ganz does not consider.

A. W. G.

By Israel Cook Russell.

Illustrated. Pp. x-f-435. New York: D. Appleton and Co. 1904.

This important volume in the World Series is highly commended as not only specially worthy of study by geographical students, but also of interest to general readers. Topography and geology are admirably treated, under the head of five physiographic provinces, though with too great fullness. The chapter on climate, following text-book methods, fails to convey, to unscientific readers at least, an adequate idea of the dominant or varying weather conditions of North America, and the illustration of the ice palace, while attractive, is not in harmony with the rest of the volume.

The omission from the volume of political or economic geography is to be regretted, especially when it is considered that from these standpoints the influence of this continent has very materially modified the march of human progress throughout the entire world. The aborigines are treated most graphically and the views advanced regarding them command respect, although not always convincing. The most instructive matter is the recognition and presentation of the admirable work of Dr C. Hart Merriam, who has solved the problem of geographical life distribution, by the formulation of the life-zones and crop-zones of North America. Professor Russell writes in a clear style and logical manner, qualities not always combined, and this volume will add to his literary and scientific reputation.

A. W. G.

By Robert Hamill Nassau.

Pp. xvii + 389. Illustrated. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1904. $2.50 net.

This is an important contribution to our knowledge of the religious beliefs and superstitions of the natives of French Congo and adjacent regions. It is the outgrowth of forty years of missionary work by Dr Nassau, and justifies the action of the American Board of Foreign Missions in fostering its preparation. Preexistence, spirit power, nature adoration, and ancestor worship are the bases on which rest the universal practices in Africa of witchcraft, charms, blood-sacrifices, and other forms of fetichism. Its practical effects in depopulation, assassination by poison, and coercion are vividly described, as also the strange secret societies of various kinds which exist among the women. The folklore reveals the existence of traditions also prevalent far remote from Africa.

A. W. G.

By George William Knox.

Pp. xii + 267. Illustrated. New York: G. R. Putnam's Sons. 1904.

This volume, partly a reprint of various articles, is an interesting, sketchy account of every-day life as seen during fifteen years' residence in Japan. The