The problem of creating some single index descriptive of a number of complex business relations is not a new one and assuredly has not been solved by Business Barometers. The statistical method employed is subject to strong criticism, especially respecting the so-called "line of normal growth" from which prosperity and depression are measured and the selection and grouping of the data employed. (See W. M. Persons, American Economic Review, December, 1916, and M. T. Copeland, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1915.) It may be said, however, that no one has done more than the author to awaken interest in trade fluctuations and to outline the possibilities of applying the experience of the past to the solution of present business problems.

Of primary interest to the business man is the analysis of particular phenomena of production and trade with the view of interpreting events as a guide to future actions. Thus, among other things, the author discusses the influence of credit conditions upon business and the security market, the significance of business failures, interest rates, foreign trade, movement of gold and foreign exchange, gold production, crop conditions, railway earnings, security market prices and the volume of security transactions. Special mention should be made of the excellent treatment of monetary conditions. This portion of the book is extremely interesting regardless of any opinion which may be formed of the author's "law of action and reaction" in business.

The book is written in a most readable and interesting style, with the exception of certain recitals of price ranges, which might conceivably be reduced by presentation in tabular form and used as appendices. It is excellently bound and accompanied by an index rather inadequate for a book of this character.

University of Pennsylvania.

ROBERT RIEGEL.

FOREIGN TRADE AND COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY

KOEBEL, W. H. Paraguay. Pp. 348. Price, $3.00. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917.

ELLIOTT, L. E. Brazil Today and Tomorrow. Pp. xi, 338. Price, $2.25. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917.

BOWMAN, ISAIAH. The Andes of Southern Peru. Pp. xi, 336. Price, $3.00. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916.

These three books represent distinct types in the never ending stream of publications dealing with South America. Paraguay, by W. H. Koebel, the latest volume in the Scribner South American Series, is a verbose account of the land it describes in which one looks in vain for any real interpretation of the country. The book is largely a presentation of facts, more or less interesting. About twothirds of the whole is history; the remaining third consists of chapters on various topics such as: Some Salient Features of the Republic, which contains a miscellaneous collection of unrelated information; The Chief Cities of the Republic; the Paraguayan of Today, much of which is historical and a great deal irrelevant to the topic; etc. Physical features are not described until chapter fifteen, and then

in less than ten pages of generalizations that contribute in a very small degree to an understanding of the country. The value of this chapter and the book in general may be indicated by the following quotation given as the serious opinion of the author: "Within the limits of practical possibilities, the climate of Paraguay realizes the conditions of an ideal climate."

Brazil Today and Tomorrow, by the Editor of the Pan American Magazine, is a beautifully bound, finely illustrated and glowing account of the greatest South American Republic. As a general account of the country-its geography, its history, its people, its industries, its commerce-it has much to commend it, but it very plainly has the common fault of over praise. The book is written to please, and whatever is unpleasant is ignored or glossed over. In spite of this, however, the book is an excellent account of what is bound to be, in influence as well as in area, one of the great nations of the world.

The Andes of Southern Peru by Dr. Isaiah Bowman, Director of the American Geographical Society, belongs to a distinctly different class from most books that we have on South America. It represents the original, pioneer work of a professional geographer, seeking to describe and to explain the racial, social and economic life of the region it treats. There are two parts to the book-the geographic and the physiographic. The latter is more particularly for the specialist, but the former is for all who are interested in the great problem of the influence of environment on life. Here the reader will find accounts of the rubber forests, the montaña, plateau and the coastal desert that not only give a fascinating picture of land and life of Peru, but an interpretation and explanation of the facts that makes the book one of the most important contributions to human geography. If one wishes to know the kind of problems upon which the modern geographer is at work, let him read the chapter on The Geographic Basis of Revolutions and Human Character in the Peruvian Andes. The originality of thought and content, the brilliancy of style, the many original maps and diagrams, the wonderfully beautiful half-tone illustrations, all combine to make this work a noteworthy contribution to geographic science and to our knowledge of Peru. The student of any of the social sciences will read with profit Part 1 of this unusual book.

G. B. ROORBACH.

University of Pennsylvania.

INSURANCE

HARDY, CARLOs S. Fraternal Insurance Law. Pp. 254. Price, $3.50. Los Angeles, 519 Trust and Savings Bldg.: published by the author, 1916.

A concise but comprehensive survey of the essentials, organization, contracts and state control of fraternal societies. Little criticism can be made of the contents of the volume as a handbook of fraternal society law, but it might have been expected, in view of the inclusion in the title of the word "insurance," that the book would have been arranged with especial consideration of the insurance phase of the subject. In view of the present predominant importance of the fraternal insurance feature a somewhat extended discussion of the recent developments and the present status of members would not be out of place.

The author has in general succeeded in his task of presenting fraternal law in

the form of rules free from technical language, but it is doubtful whether any considerable number of society members will grasp the import of the proposed readjustment of fraternal insurance from the appendix on legislation. It is unfortunate that the proof reading was not more carefully done, misspelled words being apparent throughout, with some grammatical errors and meaningless sentences interspersed. This is inexcusable in a book selling at this price. The non-technical and concise presentation of the subject is to be highly commended, as well as the serviceable arrangement of case citations.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

R. R.

WAGNER, FREDERICK H. Coal and Coke. Pp. xii, 431. Price, $4.00. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1916.

Mr. Wagner's first object is to present data relating to the carbonization of coal, with special emphasis upon the production of coal gas. This naturally includes a technical study of the oxidation and spontaneous combustion of coal, the difference between coking and gas coals, the methods of analyzing coal, and the preparation and storage of coal. All of this leads finally to a discussion of carbonization, the various methods by which coke is made, and the ovens and other apparatus used in its production.

Apart from its value to the student of coal gas manufacture, this book undoubtedly contributes somewhat to the very scanty literature relating to the production and handling of coke, although it seems to be a compilation of the more recent literature on the subject. It is to be regretted that a much larger space has not been given to by-product coke, since public interest in it has been so keenly aroused during the past three years, and there is so little available literature pertaining to it.

Many excellent cuts and plates throughout the book offset, to a certain degree, the brief treatment of most of the topics. A close student in this field would find it necessary to consult the original sources from which the author, with the apparent idea of presenting primarily a review of each topic, has drawn. The limited list of references indicates the wide field open for careful comprehensive studies of this industry, from an economic as well as from a technical standpoint. As a whole this work, though inadequate, partially fills a great need for a reference book on coal gas manufacture and by-product coke.

S. W. TATOR.

University of Pennsylvania.

TRANSPORTATION

JACKMAN, W. T. Transportation in Modern England. 2 vols. Pp. xxii, 820. Price, $7.25. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916.

These two volumes cover the history of transportation in England from the end of the fifteenth century to 1850, there being an introductory chapter giving a sketch of road construction from the Roman occupation to the fifteenth century. The author's reasons for not bringing his work beyond 1850 (except as regards the history of canals) are that we are still too near the introduction of the bicycle, the

automobile, the motor truck, and the motor omnibus to measure adequately the influence of these vehicles upon transportation facilities and services, and that, "as far as the railways are concerned, the outlines of the various systems were practically finished by 1850" while the economic problems of transportation development since that date have been discussed by various writers. These reasons seem hardly convincing. The great development of transportation and the consequent reconstruction of economic and social life have come about since 1850, and a history of transportation that ends with that date fails to supply the information which students of economics and political science especially desire. It is to be hoped that the author will add a third volume continuing his work at least to the end of the nineteenth century.

The books evidence excellent scholarship. The information has been sought from original sources, the text is fully documented and there is a lengthy, wellarranged bibliography. The style is clear and concise, and the space assigned different subjects shows a good sense of proportion.

E. R. J.

WILLIAMS, CLEMENT C. The Design of Railway Location. Pp. vii, 517. Price, $3.50. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1917.

This work is a study of the fundamental economic and physical principles underlying the problem of railway location. While designed primarily as a text for engineering students, the book may be read with profit by anybody interested in the problems of railway economics.

The introduction and the first part are of a general nature; the former gives a brief history of the development of railways in the United States, and the latter sets forth an analysis of railway transportation as a business, including the factors immediately related to the income and the outgo of the operating railroad corporation.

The second part deals with the operating conditions which affect railway location, such as curves, gradients, rolling stock, locomotives, and electrification. The third part deals with the special problems of double tracking, elimination of grade crossings, and grade reduction. The fourth part describes the practical work involved in making surveys and estimates preparatory to actual construction.

Many railroad companies have decided in recent years that it pays to invest a large lump sum in a construction project in order to make changes by which operating costs can be reduced and a greater efficiency achieved in the movement of traffic. Professor Williams shows what factors must be considered in determining whether expensive projects of relocation are in the long run economical. T. W. V. M.

WYMOND, MARK. Government Partnership in Railroads. Pp. 178. Price, $1.50. Chicago: Wymond and Clark, 1917.

An analytical presentation of the problem of railroad regulation in the United States is offered in this work, along with the elements of a plan for a constructive policy and an argument against government ownership.

T. W. V. M.

ECONOMICS

CHAPMAN, HERMAN H. Forest Valuation. Pp. xvi, 310. Price, $2.00. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1916.

A book dealing in general with forest valuation, though but one of the fourteen chapters is devoted specifically to the methods of forest valuation. The first four chapters are given to a superficial and occasionally inexact restatement of elementary economics. The remaining chapters are devoted to the author's specialty and are inclusive and authoritative. The topics covered include: Investments and Costs in Forest Production, The Valuation of Forests, Forest Statics-The Balance-Sheet Profits, The Appraisal of Damages, Forest Taxation, Stumpage Values, Future Value of Forests, Risks, Field Appraisals of Timber Stumpage, and Comparison of Forest Values with Agricultural Values. Formulae are given for cost of damages, depreciation, interest earned, profits, stumpage values, forest valuation, and compound interest.

On the whole the book is a creditable piece of scholarly work.

C. L. K.

FILLEBROWN, C. B. The Principles of Natural Taxation. Pp. xx, 281. Price, $1.50. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1917.

This volume is intended as "a revision and enlargement of the Single Tax Handbook for 1913, . . issued with the idea of permanence." Like its predecessor it is more a series of essays than a well-rounded treatise.

Part I deals with the "authorities" for single tax doctrines. To excerpts from the writings of Smith, Mill, George, McGlynn and Shearman are added citations from Patrick Edward Dove, Edwin Burgess and Sir John Macdonell. The work of the latter is given particular attention on account of its close relationship in spirit and form to that of Henry George.

Part II deals with "side-lights." Here are reprinted many of Mr. Fillebrown's well-known articles, such as Henry George and the Economists, A Burdenless Tax, the 1916-17 Catechism of Natural Taxation, etc. More recent contributions entitled Land: The Rent Concept-The Property Concept, and Taxation and Housing: The Taxation of Privilege are also included.

The appendix contains the author's analysis of the "real views" concerning rent and its taxation developed by the Physiocrats, Thomas Spencer, William Ogilvie, Thomas Paine and Herbert Spencer. These writers are relegated to the appendix because Fillebrown considers, quite justly, that while their names have been associated with Henry George they "cannot claim classification with him when tested by the tenets which they have advocated."

Needless to say, the author still remains an advocate of the "single tax limited." His arguments do not need explanation or comment here as they are already well advertised among all interested persons. The volume is dedicated to the economists of America.

F. T. S.