In a week this tremendous force moved southward about 85 miles, in the face of a stubborn, retreating force of allied French and English soldiers. The topography favored this advance through the valley of the Oise, but the loss of German soldiers was tremendous

The advance through the Paris Basin during the following week, was no less remarkable. Figure 1 shows the German line on September 5th. It extends west to within 45 miles of the English Channel at Calais. It extends south beyond Epernay, Chalons, and nearly to Verdun. Moreover in the valleys of the Marne and Oise it reaches Meaux and Creil which are less than 30 miles from Paris. Meaux is within 23 miles of the walls of Paris, though there are strong forts between. The advance during this week is over 50 miles, as from Laon to Meaux. Topography is again favor

Fig. 2. Map showing successive positions of the allied French and British armies in driving the Germans back from Paris. Lines drawn for each day up to the time of the great battle north of the Aisne. Modified from a map in the New York Sun.

able, but the difficulty has increased with the distance from base of supplies, with the larger area occupied, and with the reinforcement of the French and English armies.

RETREAT OF GERMANS ACROSS HILLY COUNTRY

The rapidity with which the Allies drove the Germans back is even more remarkable. Figure 2 shows the successive positions of the armies every day for the week September 7th to 14th. When the Germans turned away from their movement directly on Paris on September 3rd and went southeastward to try to break through the Allies' center, we see the be

ginning of failure of the German campaign in France. The Allies' center held. Moreover the French and English rapidly drove back the Germans. through the series of positions shown in Figure 2. This is all the more remarkable when we consider the topographic situation, although the German forces were weakened by (a) loss of men during the Allies' retreat and (b) diversion of troops to the Russian frontier. The topography favored the Germans. They were retreating northeastward. This part of the Paris Basin is a belted plain with ridges running north and south, the escarpments facing eastward and the cuestas sloping westward. The cuesta in the Champaign district near the Allies' center is crossed by the rivers Marne, Aisne, and many tributaries. The deeply-cut valleys of these rivers formed natural lines of defence for the retreating Germans. They were driven across the Marne; but they intrenched themselves north of the Aisne, whose narrow, gorge-like valley is 200 to 300 feet deep. Here the line held from September 15th to October 20th. The great battle which was waged for over a month resulted in little advances here, little retreats there, but no notable change. Between September 7th and 14th the Allies drove the Germans back about 60 miles, or to essentially the same position they held on August 29th (Fig. 1). The topographic grain of the country, better developed near Reims than to the northwest, enabled the Germans to hold essentially the same position from September 15th to October 20th, for the valleys and escarpments enabled each force to just about balance the other. No flanking movement dislodged the Germans from their position north of the Aisne. But with the aid of their enormous new siege guns they reduced the forts around Antwerp, occupying that city October 9th and Ostende a week later. Both of these cities had been used as temporary capitals of Belgium. On October 20th the right wing of the German army rested upon the coast of the English Channel between Ostende and Dunkirk faced by the French, Belgians, and British. This necessitates a break somewhere in the line of battle which extends continuously from the English Channel to Switzerland. Topographic conditions favor a change on the plain near the sea in Flanders rather than in the hilly region to the southeast in the Ardennes-Vosges.

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A NEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

HE United States Geological Survey has just published a most timely paper on Our Mineral Reserves (Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 599, 1914, 48 pp.). This bulletin, compiled by the Director, George Otis Smith, shows how nearly complete is the independence of this country in regard to raw mineral materials. The list of necessary mineral products which we cannot provide consists only of the fertilizers, potash and the nitrates, and the metals, nickel, tin and platinum.

The author predicts a great development of our mineral resources, both because of the demands of the rest of the world for our products since their European markets are closed by war and also since the needs of our home markets will force the exploitation of many hither-to neglected deposits.

Dealing first with the subject of mineral fuels, it is shown that since the six countries which rank next to us in coal production are at war, the United States must inevitably find a large export trade waiting for its coal. This country possesses nearly twice as much coal as exists in all Europe, and shortage need not be feared. The great European market for our petroleum is closed, and no advance can be expected in this industry.

In regard to the mining and manufacture of our metals, conditions may be briefly summarized as follows: The importation of ores of iron, lead, zinc and radium will not be affected. Aluminum ores will decrease about ten per cent and those of platinum and manganese will be so scarce as to greatly hamper industries dependent on these metals. The supply, and therefore the cost, in our local markets of manufactures of iron, lead, zinc, copper and radium will not be reduced; in fact, with the exception of iron, our production of these metals must be curtailed.

There will be some shortage of arsenic and aluminum, a considerable deficiency in the supply of tin and antimony, but the most serious situation will be in the platinum and manganese markets. Our manganese deposits will be developed to meet this demand quite easily, but we have no important platinum resources. Probably enough for technical and mechanical purposes can be secured from Russia, if the supply is not diverted to the jewelry trade. Of our exports, iron and zinc should show a great increase, while copper and radium will have practically no foreign markets.

Of the miscellaneous minerals and their products, the only ones not found. at least in part in this country are potash salts and diamonds. In spite of the careful and wide-spread search carried on by the Survey for a decade, there is still no known deposit of available potash in this country. The world's commercial supply of potash comes entirely from Germany, and is cut off by the war. We use potash in fertilizers, in the manufacture of glass, of soaps, certain bleaching chemicals, dyestuffs, some explosives, etc. Nitrates for chemical purposes are recovered from gas and coke plants and our phosphate reserves are the greatest in the world. The supplies of other mineral chemicals are adequate for all our needs, but we are decidedly delinquent in the use of our coal-tar and petroleum by-products.

In short, the United States is not only the world's greatest producer of mineral wealth, but possesses greater reserves of most of the essential minerals than any other nation. Probably no other nation in the world so nearly approaches absolute independence in respect to mineral resources.

R. S. KNAPPEN.

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SIBERIA

By Leonard O. Packard

Boston Normal School

HE region to which the name Siberia is now applied extends from the Ural Mountains on the west to the Pacific Ocean on the east. The boundary on the north is the Arctic Ocean; and on the south it is a line running from the source of the Ural River to the Tarbagatai Mountains, thence along the Chinese frontier as far as the southeast corner of Transbaikalia, and then along the rivers Argun, Amur, and Ussuri to the Korean border. Siberia may be considered as consisting of two parts, Western Siberia which includes the basins of the Ob and Irtysh Rivers, and Eastern Siberia, the remainder of the region.

As one traces these boundaries one cannot fail to be impressed by the vast area included within them, and at once begins to wonder to what extent this great area is adapted to human activities. At the present time the region does not exert a great influence outside its own limits. In the past it has played an important part in the history of both Europe and Asia. In early times its boundless plains offered unequalled opportunities for nomadic tribes. to push their way from several eastern centers into western Russia, and indeed into all Europe, thus determining in no small measure the racial and cultural characteristics which are found in the invaded regions at the present time. The same levelness of surface made it easy at a later period for Russian explorers to forge their way rapidly eastward to the Pacific Ocean, where need of open harbors brought the Russian people into conflict with China and Japan.

But the service which Siberia is to render in the future will be quite different from that of the past. Instead of serving merely as a highway for the passage of wandering peoples the country promises to become one of the most important food producing areas of the world. Before Siberia can gain such a rating among the civilized and industrial nations of the world she must show resources commensurate in some measure at least with her great size; and these resources must be efficiently developed.

That Siberia possesses these resources, and that they are to some extent appreciated, is shown by the increase in population in recent years. The population of the region in 1910 was 8,219,020. Since 1897 the population of the Russian Empire has increased 31 per cent, the population of Siberia in the same time having increased 40 per cent. This increase in population is due chiefly to immigration from European Russia. The larger land holdings which it is possible for the immigrant to secure offer great inducement. In European Russia the average peasant can obtain only about five acres of land which serves to occupy his time for only a portion of the year. In Siberia he holdings are sufficiently large to require his attention for the whole of the

year and thus to yield him a better living. In western Siberia the population is widely scattered, while in eastern Siberia it is confined mainly to the chief roads and rivers.

The chief occupation of the people is agriculture, an industry dependent upon surface, soil, and climate.

As to surface Siberia presents considerable diversity. In the north and west the country consists mainly of a vast plain, while in the east and south plateaus and mountain ranges occur. In some parts of the western plain the surface is so nearly level that the water drains into the headwaters of one stream when the wind is in a certain direction, and flows into another stream when the wind is from the opposite quarter. This condition prevails near the source of the Lena and the Yenesei. Because of this exceedingly level surface of the western plain and resulting poor drainage, much of the land in this portion of Siberia is swampy and unfit for agriculture.

The western portion of the Siberian plain passes toward the East into rolling prairie land similar to that of the Canadian Northwest. Some of the prairie lands are exceedingly fertile, those of the Upper Yenesei equalling in fertility the Red River Valley. Other portions are rocky and so unfit for farming. Because of the rocky lands, the swamps, and the thousands of acres yet to be cleared of forests, millions of acres cannot be cultivated. Then, too, it must be remembered that a large part of the country is still unexplored. The parts best known lie not far from the main streams and the railroads. Large areas well adapted to agriculture are as yet unsettled simply because of lack of adequate transportation facilities.

The climate of Siberia compares favorably with that of Canada. Since the rain-bearing westerly winds are here far from their source of supply the rainfall is more or less precarious. According as the rainfall is much or little the crops are heavy or light, in some seasons being three times as heavy as in others.

As in Canada under similar conditions of soil and climate the chief crop is wheat, though rye and oats are also grown to a considerable extent.

Poppy culture for the production of opium and oil has increased in importance for several years. The climate of the Ussuri district is particularly favorable to the cultivation of this plant. This industry is entirely in the hands of the Chinese who rent the land of Russian land holders. The area under cultivation in the eastern coast region rose from 826 acres in 1910 to 9,450 acres in 1912. Recently a bill to prohibit opium-poppy growing has been introduced into the Russian Duma. The injurious effects of the industry is felt not only because of the use of opium, but because continued cultivation. of the poppy exhausts the soil, thus rendering the raising of food crops unprofitable.

One might expect that on the vast plains of Siberia cattle raising would be a very important occupation. This is not the case however, as the Russian