Interesting as the mere facts of physiographic science finally become to the trained scientist they make little appeal either to the average boy or the average adult, if he must first come in contact with them as they are presented in the text-book; classified, catalogued, labelled in scientific terms and laid away (as it seems to him) in chapter, section, and paragraph, like specimens in a museum. Since this book is concerned mainly with landscapes and the story of the forces that helped to shape them it does not undertake to deal with mineralogy. Within the fields thus defined it is believed that the larger facts, the great moving causes of things, have been covered as thoroughly as they are in the average elementary text-book. In addition, subjects in great variety are touched upon which do not come within the province of the text-book, but are such as naturally suggest themselves in the broader and richer discussion of such topics in the conversation of cultivated people. Hide and Seek in the Library Since the whole purpose of the school is to prepare for the larger world of life and books outside the school, special attention is invited to the department of questions and suggestions following each chapter. As indicated in the introduction to the first of the series, an effort has been made to capitalize the fact that young people enjoy conundrums and curious quests in the field of books quite as well as mere passive reading. The treatment is somewhat discursive, and in this and other respects is intended to be more like the conversation of cultivated parents with their children than like the review questions of a text-book; the review element being incidental, in recalling the topics out of which these questions and suggestions grow. The correlations in the most modern texts lead into equally wide and varied fields. If he has succeeded in the aim thus indicated, the author believes this department may easily prove one of the most interesting as well as educatively useful features of the work. H. H. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. _In the Beginning_ 1 II. _The Winter that Lasted All Summer_ 20 III. _The Soul of the Spring and the Lands of Eternal Snow_ 41 IV. _The April Rains and the Work of the Rivers_ 66 V. _The Fairyland of Change_ 93 VI. _The Secrets of the Hills_ 113 VII. _The Stones of the Field_ 145 VIII. _The Desert_ 161 IX. _In the Lands of the Lakes_ 191 X. _The Autumn Winds and the Rock Mills of the Sea_ 212 XI. _The Handwriting on the Walls_ 234