serve a high pic as a problem to be solved, and they proceed to the solution thereof with scarpetti, ropes, ice-axes, and a tremendous amount of faith and courage. Many an exciting incident befalls them. Yet by the constant use of wisdom no mishap must be recounted. Not only do they mount to the summits themselves, but, in spite of the objections of the guides, do they haul up in some miraculous manner a heavy photographic equipment. For this effort the reader may be grateful. The photographic reproductions are among the most remarkable to be found anywhere. The author's style is humorously thrilling-to witness: One day an opposition party was climbing the same peak. There had been an accident among the rivals. Stones drop ominously. A form like a human body comes bouncing downward-bump, bump! They are horrified to see the tell-tale trail of red on the white snow. At their very feet the body ceases to roll, and they recognize a huge ruck-sack with a broken flask of claret! The second part of the book is on "British Crags." The tyro yearning for future success in Switzerland contents himself with sensational winter climbing when his fingers and toes are so frozen he can scarce clutch the tiny footholds and handholds. Next he betakes himself to the less better-known rocks of Wales. To read a list of Welsh proper names is in itself a dangerous excursion filled with pitfalls, crevices, couloirs, escarpments, ledges, slabs, buttresses, and other troubles. Come with me, then, to scale Cwm Cywion, Mynydd-Trwsgwl, Bwlch y Drws y Coet-from all accounts a most imposing group of rocks where one can have climbing equally as thrilling and healthy and thoughtful as any in Switzerland. LENA REDINGTON CARLTON "RAMBLES Rambles in the Vaudese Alps consists of a month's climbIN THE ing, botanically, in the valley of the Rhone at Gryon, not far VAUDESE from the famous St. Moritz. The author is most ardent in ALPS"* his scientific discoveries. His notes on the flora of the district and his observations on the habits of plants in general are chiefly of interest to botanists, particularly to English botanists, for his comparisons are ever with the conditions of the same plants as they grow in Britain. Aside from the science of the volume, there are, too, bits of life as seen in Switzerland-descriptions of the chalets with their eave-protected balconies, the flat-chested women and girls, knitting as they tend the family cow, the leaves drying about the doorstep, to be used for lighting winter fires, etc. But the reviewer feels that the scientific interest outweighs the travel interest. It would be a charming book to take with one should one be fortunate enough to make the same journey in the cantons of Vaud and Vallais. LENA REDINGTON CARLTON * Rambles in the Vaudese Alps. By F. S. SALISBURY. E. P. Dutton & Co., pub. lishers. $1.00 net. 152 pages. Eight full-page illustrations from photographs by Somerville Hastings. "CALIFORNIA In his introduction to this very interesting list of InPLACE NAMES OF dian names, Professor Kroeber says: "The origin of INDIAN ORIGIN"* many place names in California which are of Indian derivation is very imperfectly known, and has often been thoroughly misunderstood. There is no subject of information in which rumor and uncritical tradition hold fuller sway than in this field. The best literature dealing with the topic-and it is one of widespread interest contains more errors than truths. The present compilation, in spite of probably embodying numerous misunderstandings and offering only doubt or ignorance on other points, is at least an attempt to approach the inquiry critically." Many names that are listed are of special interest to our readers, as may be seen from the following examples: Hetch Hetchy Valley, in the famous cañon on Tuolumne River, is named from a Central Miwok word denoting a kind of grass or plant with edible seeds abounding in the valley. Koip Peak, between Mono and Tuolumne counties, is probably, like near-by Kuna Peak, named from a Mono Indian word. Koip is "mountain sheep" in the closely related Northern Paiute dialect. Kuna Peak, between Tuolumne and Mono counties, is probably named from the Shoshonean word kuna, usually meaning "fire," but appearing in the Mono dialect of the vicinity with the signification of "firewood." "THE BOOK OF The Book of Forestry, by F. F. Moon, covers the field in FORESTRY"+ a brief, interesting, and non-technical way which is very acceptable to the general reader. Although written particularly for boys, it should prove of decided interest and value to older readers. Some of the topics considered are the meaning of forestry; the usefulness of forests; the life-story of the tree; the properties and uses of wood; the methods of raising, protecting, measuring, and harvesting crops of timber; the life of a forester; city forestry. Part II is a description of such characteristics of trees and of the various kinds of wood as are of help in identifying trees and commercial timbers. A glossary of technical terms is appended. It is perhaps unfortunate that some of the statements are somewhat too dogmatic. For example, "Forestry is not agriculture, because agriculture has to do with tillable fields and level lands." If, as has been done, we define agriculture as the production of living things from the soil, then forestry is a part of agriculture. That this point of view is accepted by many is shown by the fact that so large a proportion of the managed forests of the world are administered by departments of agriculture. In points so open to argument, it would seem that it would have been well for the author to state both viewpoints. * California Place Names of Indian Origin. By A. L. KROEBER. University of California Publications in American Archæology and Ethnology, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 31-69. Price, 40 cents. †The Book of Forestry. By FREDERICK FRANKLIN MOON. D. Appleton & Co., New York and London. 1916. Price, $1.75. Illustrated. The carelessness in making misleading or imperfectly explained statements, and in faulty proof-reading, which seems to be altogether too common in American books on forestry, appears again here to a slight extent, but not in nearly so pronounced a form as in some previous works. An example is the statement on page 196, that "the Sequoias are found largely in California"! The use of various equivalents for red fir and Pseudotsuga taxifolia must be confusing to the beginner. The author on page 290 states that red fir is Abies magnifica, on page 283 that red fir is Pseudotsuga taxifolia, and on page 195, in a description of Pseudotsuga taxifolia, the heading is “Oregon fir,” and the same tree is referred to lower on the page as Douglas fir. All of these statements are in accordance with common usage, but without explanation they are confusing to the reader unfamiliar with the variation in the use of tree names. Some misprints occur. It is also to be regretted that, probably because of the greatly increased cost of book-making, the book is rather poorly printed and does not make so favorable an impression as the price would lead one to expect. W. M. "THE MOUNTAINEER" The Mountaineers' annual publication maintains VOLUME IX* the high standard of its predecessors. The Mountaineers' activities in 1916 were centered mainly about Mount Baker, and most of the articles in their annual are related in some way to this mountain. Mrs. L. R. Frazeur, well known to several Sierra Club outings, describes The Mountaineers' climbs last year of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. Charles Finley Easton contributes an interesting and valuable account of Mount Baker's glaciers. Other articles-on early explorations of Mount Baker, on Indian legends connected with the mountain, on the wild animals of the region, on neighboring points of scenic interest-complete a well-rounded survey of Mount Baker from the point of view of the mountain-lover's interests. The Mountaineer devotes considerable space to the activities of other mountaineering clubs-a valuable feature. A. H. A. "THROUGH The first impulse of a normal Sierran upon reading Mrs. GLACIER Mary Roberts Rinehart's little book will be to buy a ticket PARK"† at the first opportunity for the Glacier National Park, in the hope of seeing the things which Mrs. Rinehart saw, and in the hope of meeting Howard Eaton. "Howard Eaton," says Mrs. Rinehart, "is extremely young. He was born quite a number of years ago, but what is that? He is a boy, and he takes an annual frolic. And because it means a cracking good time, he takes people with him and puts The Mountaineer, volume IX. Published by The Mountaineers, Seattle, December, 1916. 112 pages. Price, 50 cents. Illustrated. †Through Glacier Park: The Log of a Trip with Howard Eaton. By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston and New York. 1916. Price, 75 cents. Illustrated. ... horses under them and the fear of God in their hearts, and bacon and many other things, including beans, in their stomachs. . . . He is a hunter, a sportsman, and a splendid gentleman." Such was the guide who conducted the party of whom Mrs. Rinehart was one. It surely is a privilege to make a tour of Glacier Park with such a man. Mrs. Rinehart does the tour justice; she enjoyed every minute of the three-hundred-mile trip, and she makes it enjoyable for others to read about. The book can be bought for a small price and read in a short time, and the return in enjoyment for the time and money invested in it will be just about one thousand per cent. A. H. A. "ALASKAN The National Geographic Society published in 1914 the reGLACIER sults of its explorations of glaciers in the Yakutat Bay, STUDIES"* Prince William Sound, and Lower Copper River regions of Alaska. The field-work was done in 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1913, and the report is by Professor R. S. Tarr, formerly of Cornell University, and Professor Lawrence Martin, of the University of Wisconsin. It would be impossible to give an adequate account of this exhaustive report in the space available for this belated notice, nor would a thorough analysis of it be appropriate, perhaps, in this BULLETIN. Each glacier in the region named is studied in detail over a period of years, its activities measured and recorded, and fully described. The report is lavishly illustrated with half-tones and drawings, and with a set of nine excellent colored maps. A. H. A. The Journal of Agriculture of the University of California has issued a special Forestry number which is extremely attractive and interesting. It contains seventeen excellent contributed articles from officials high in rank in the Federal service, from private lumbermen, from educators and others. It also contains some interesting notes of the Agricultural Department of the University of California. A book of Songs of the Sierra Club has been published, and is on sale at the club-room-price, ten cents, or, with postage, twelve cents. Our outing members will find in it many songs to recall camp-fire days. By RALPH * Alaskan Glacier Studies of the National Geographic Society. STOCKMAN TARR and LAWRENCE MARTIN. The National Geographic Society, Washington. 1914. Illustrated. NORT STERN PACIFIC Traverses Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt Counties, the territory that appeals to the hiker and lover of primitive out-of-door sports EVERY TWO HOURS during the day, a fast electric train leaves to SACRAMENTO OAKLAND, ANTIOCH & EASTERN L. H. RODEBAUGH, Traffic Manager OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA |