NEWS NOTES

Prof. Amos Farnham, for many years teacher of Geography in the Oswego, N. Y., Normal School, has an article on "The Land of Bohemia" in the June number of The Vocationist. Regarding the word Bohemia, Prof. Farnham says: "The term Bohemia has an unfortunate use, which use is the only one understood by many intelligent people. Long ago a vagabond race came from India and scattered over Europe, hence over Bohemia. Later the descendants of this race came to America from different European countries including Bohemia. They were called Bohemians. They lived by theft, fortune-telling, tinkering, and trading horses. These vagabonds are still in our midst and are called Bohemians, when they are not called gypsies. They might with the same propriety be called Bavarians, Hungarians, or after any other country which they had infested, and from which they had emigrated to our shores."

Prof. R. DeC. Ward, of Harvard, published in the January, 1914, Monthly Weather Review a highly interesting Appreciation of Lorin Blodget's "Climatology of the United States." Prof. Ward's article includes many excerpts from the book. Of this volume he says: "More than ever before, I am impressed by the labor involved in the preparation of this book; by the author's broad and clear view of his subject; and by the practical application of the facts. My rereading of this book has given me new light on my path as a teacher. And I hope that this notice may turn attention once more to the importance of Blodget's work for American climatology, and may help to preserve for this almost forgotton author of 50 years ago the place to which he is entitled among American meteorologists."

Reports from the summer schools indicate a widespread growth of interest in the Geography courses. The Cornell enrollment was one-third larger than last year. W. M. Gregory reports over 100 teachers in his geography classes at the Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville. The regis tration in geography classes at the University of Wisconsin was more than double that of any previous year, and Chicago's enrollment increased nearly fifty per cent over 1913.

President Gould and Secretary Lange of the Geographical Society of Wisconsin, have arranged the program for the annual meeting of the Society at Milwaukee next month. Among the speakers announced are Professors. Goode, of the University of Chicago, and Martin of the University of Wisconsin. Professor Goode will also deliver an address on Geography at one of the big general sessions of the Wisconsin Teachers' Association.

Gannett, Garrison and Houston's Commercial Geography, originally issued in 1905 (American Book Co.), has been revised and the statistical matter brought down to 1910 or later.

Two papers on the subject of Geography-teaching were presented before the Science Section of the National Education Association of Saint Paul; one by R. H. Whitbeck on "Geography Teaching in City High Schools," and one by W. J. Sutherland on "Geography Teaching in the Smaller High Schools."

NEW

YORK STATE (REGENT'S) EXAMINATION IN GE-
OGRAPHY

New York has uniform examinations throughout all of the schools of the state, held on the same day and hour in every school. The following examination is the final test for "passing" pupils out of grade school geography; 75 is the passing grade. Ten questions must be answered.

1. In what continent is each of the following mountains: Andes, Rocky, Alps, Himalaya, Appalachian? Tell in what general direction each extends. 2. Tell what each of the following is and give its location: New Zealand, Caribbean, Victoria Nyanza, Steppes, White House.

3. Give the general direction of each of the following rivers and name the body of water into which each flows: Connecticut, Amazon, Thames, Ganges, Nile.

4. Locate by states the following cities: Boston, Chicago,. Philadelphia, New Orleans, Detroit, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Lincoln, Seattle.

5. Compare the climate of the northwestern coast of the United States with that of the northeastern coast in the same latitude. Give reasons for the difference.

6. Name three kinds of soil. Tell two ways in which nature transports soil.

7. Mention four conditions that modify the climate of a place. 8. Write at least 75 words on Dairy Farming, describing it briefly, giving the conditions that make it profitable and naming the products. 9. Name the five races of men. Describe one of these races.

10. Give one important fact about each of the following: (a) Waterloo, Belgium, (b) St. Helena, (c) Saratoga, (d) Genoa, (e) Rome, Italy. 11. What is meant by water storage? What benefits will come to the industries of this state through water storage?

12. Give one important reason for the growth of each of three of the following: (a) Schenectady, (b) Niagara Falls, (c) Montgomery, Ala. (d) Nome, (e) Duluth, (f) Seattle.

13. Draw an outline map of New York State. On this map indicate, with names, five water boundaries of this state.

14. Name and locate the following in New York State: (a) two rivers that furnish important water power, (b) two places where important battles have been fought, (c) the highest mountain.

15. Name one famous business street, one famous residence street, the two largest parks and two means of rapid transit in New York city.

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERMEDIATE CERTIFICATE IN SOUTH

AUSTRALIA

Geography.

Candidates must attempt only five questions, viz., 1, 2, 3, and any other two. 1. Explain the meaning of the following terms with reference to Australian meteorology. Illustrate your answer by sketches, inserting barometric readings and winds:-Cyclone, monsoon, "V"-shaped depression.

2. State what and where the following are, and give interesting facts about each of them:-The Rand, Birdsville, Alberta, Darjeeling, The Great Karroo, Minneapolis, Perim, La Paz, Buluwayo, Rotorua.

3. Give a general description of the natural resources, exports, and distribution of population of either China or Canada.

4. What effects do you consider the opening of the Panama Canal will have on the trade of the world?

5. State where the following products are chiefly found:-Gold, oil, silver, jute, sulphur, diamonds, tin, quicksilver, platinum.

6. What States are wholly or mainly drained by the Rio de la Plata? Draw a fairly large map showing the principal rivers which unite to form it. Mention the occupations of the inhabitants of the watersheds of these streams.

7. What are the chief volcanic regions of the world? Mention anything of interest you have noticed with regard to the positions of these regions.

8. Name, in order of importance, the chief wheat-growing countries of the world, and state their comparative advantages and disadvantages for the development of that industry.

Commercial Geography.

1. Name the chief producing countries of the following:-Rubber, asphaltum, cinnamon, mahogany, cotton, opium, cinchona, tea.

2. Specify five marked illustrations of man's skill in overcoming adverse physiographic conditions for the purpose of promoting material welfare.

3. Name the principal imports into the Commonwealth of Australia from the following countries:-India, Canada, and Java. What commodities are sent to these countries from Australia?

4. Locate the Suez Canal, Kiel Canal, Welland Canal, and state what special advantage to commerce each contributes.

5. Write full notes on the situation and commercial importance of Chicago, Singapore, Genoa.

A Little Book on Map Projection by Mary Adams was issued during the past summer by George Philip and Son, London. (50 cents). It is intended for use in secondary schools and normal schools.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

THE TRADE OF THE WORLD. By James Davenport Whelpley. 436 pp. 80 illustrations on plate paper. The Century Co., N. Y., $2.00 net, postage extra. Published October, 1913.

The title does not closely fit the book. The author has traveled widely, has resided in most, if not all, of the countries of which he writes, and is intimately acquainted with his subject. The style is easy, the matter interesting, but by no means confined to matters of trade. The treatment is on a broad economic basis, dealing with resources, transportation, condition of the people, foreign relations, etc. Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, Italy, North Africa, Japan, China, Russia, Argentina and the United States are the countries which are considered. One chapter deals with the interesting theme, "If Canada were to Annex the United States." The opening chapter discusses "Trade Strategy; a 34-billion dollar Stake in Commercial Diplomacy," and is an illuminating chapter, particularly valuable for students of Commercial Geography, and candidates for the consular service. Statistics are sparingly introduced. The treatment is analytical and interpretative, and is enriched with a wealth of concrete illustrations drawn from the author's wide experience.

THE CLIMATE and Weather OF CHICAGO. By Henry J. Cox and John H. Armington. The University of Chicago Press. pp. xxv+375. $3.00 net. Transportation extra: weight 3 lbs., 1 oz. (1914).

This is Bulletin No. 4 of the Chicago Geographical Society; a large part of the cost of publication was met by the contributions of generous ChicagoThe book is divided into eight parts, namely, Temperature, Precipitation, Atmospheric Moisture, Cloudiness and Sunshine, Wind Direction and Velocity, Barometric Pressure and a Conclusion. There are 147 tables, 9 plates and 99 figures.

The volume plainly represents an enormous amount of work, done in a thoroughgoing way. No critical review is here attempted, for such a review should be made only by a specialist in Meteorology. A book of this sort is a distinct credit to the scientific spirit of the writers, who have given so largely of their time, and to the enterprise of the Chicago Geographical Society, which has secured its publication.

How Man Conquered Nature is a recent issue in Macmillan's "Everychild's Series," (40 cents). The author is Minnie J. Reynolds. As a supplementary reader, it forms an introduction to the study of Industries and Industrial Geography. Typical chapters deal with-First Manufactures, How Man got the Food Plants, The Story of Man's Clothes, What the Mineral World Furnishes, The Growth of Civilization through Trade, and Why our Race has Conquered. There are 250 pages and a few illustrations.

THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

There are 3141 islands of which 2775 contain less than one square mile. About 500 miles from the coast of Asia. Entirely within the tropics; total land area is 115,026 square miles, equal to two Wisconsins. Mainly of volcanic origin, and very mountainous. Highest elevation, 8868 feet. Monsoon climate with six months rainy season beginning in April.

Earthquakes and tropical hurricanes are frequent. Twelve volcanoes have been in eruption in historic times.

Total population, about 8,000,000 of which 7,000,000 are classed as civilized or partly so. The 8 civilized tribes are Roman Catholic, and the 16 smaller wild tribes are either Mohammedans or are in varying stages of barbarism. Half of the people live in Luzon.

Largest export is cocoanut oil; nearly 400,000,000 pounds in 1912.

Have a monopoly of Manila hemp, which grows wild and has never been successfully raised elsewhere.

Sugar is not likely to become a great product on account of lack of capital and efficient labor, and because of a law which prevents the acquisition of large plantations.

The fourth export, in value, is tobacco.

Coffee has ceased to be of importance, due mainly to a disease which attacked it.

Rice, the principal food, is widely grown, but in addition, hundreds of millions of pounds are imported.

Bananas are the commonest and cheapest fruit; more than 50 varieties are produced in the archipelago.

Agriculture, crude and primitive, is the chief occupation, but the farmers are not prosperous. Only one acre in 30 is cultivated.

One-third of the world's supply of copra, the dried meat of the cocoanut, comes from the Philippines.

The public forests cover 40,000,000 acres, two-thirds of the area of the islands. They could yield $30,000,000 a year under scientific management, yet they do not supply the home demand.

Coal of low grade is mined, but the folding and faulting of the strata makes mining difficult.

Corn is brought from Rosario, Argentina, to New York at about the same freight rate as the railroads charge from Buffalo to New York. From September to December, 1913, we imported from a half million to two and one-third million bushels of corn each month from Argentina; and this in spite of the fact that the United States produces two-thirds of the corn grown in the world.