LITERATURE REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this articles: BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION POLICY: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS Kenneth J. Coffey, Strategic Implications of the All-Volunteer Force. The Conventional Defense of Central Europe W. Scott Thompson, ed., National Security in the 1980s: From Weakness to Strength Lennart J. Lundqvist, The Hare and the Tortoise: Clean Air Policies in the United States and Sweden Charles T. Stewart, Jr. Air Pollution, Human Health, and Public Policy Richard J. Tobin, The Social Gamble: Determining Acceptable Levels of Air Quality Lennart J. Lundqvist, The Hare and the Tortoise: Clean Air Policies in the United States and Sweden Charles T. Stewart, Jr. Air Pollution, Human Health, and Public Policy Richard J. Tobin, The Social Gamble: Determining Acceptable Levels of Air Quality Lynton R. Hayes, Energy, Economic Growth, and Regulationism in the West Helen M. Ingram Nancy K. Laney and John R. McCain, A Policy Approach to Political Representation: Lessons from the Four Corners States Stuart L. Hart and Gordon A. Enk, Green Goals and Greenbacks: State Level Environmental Review Programs and Their Associated Costs Alfred A. Marcus, Promise and Performance; Choosing and Implementing an Environmental Policy Krause, Lawrence B. and Sekiguchi, Sueo, eds., Economic Interaction in the Pacific Basin Tasca, Diane, ed., U.S.-Japanese-Economic Relations: Cooperation, Competition, and Confrontation Vasey, Lloyd R. ed., Pacific Asia and U.S. Policies: A Political-Economic Strategic Assessment BOOK REVIEWS Franklin A. Long and Judith Reppy, ed., The Genesis of New Weapons—Decision Making for Military R&D Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Warfare In a Fragile World: Military Impact on the Human Environment George F, Break, Financing Government in a Federal System Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services Jeffrey A. Raffel, The Politics of School Desegregation: The Metropolitan Remedy in Delaware BOOKNOTES Cotton M. Lindsay, ed., NEW DIRECTIONS IN PUBLIC HEALTH CAHE: A PRESCRIPTION FOR THE 1980'S Gautreaux Housing Demonstration: An Evaluation of Its Impact on Participating Households The Conversion of Rental Housing to Condominiums and Cooperatives     

Agricultural variation and human fertility in antebellum Pennsylvania

Focus in this discussion is on research designed to examine human fertility variation in 59 Pennsylvania counties in 1850 and 1860. The research goes beyond previous historical studies in examining the relationship between land quality and fertility and in separating the possible impacts of settlement from the availability of land for agricultural purposes. The measure of human fertility used in the analysis was the child-woman ratio, defined as the number of children aged 0-4/1000 white women aged 15-49. In 1850 the child-woman ratio ranged from 488-889. The child-woman ratio fell slightly between 1850 and 1860, and county level variation was reduced. Yet, Pennsylvania counties varied substantially in fertility levels during this period. The range between the highest and lowest fertility countries was over 400 children in 1850 and almost 350 in 1860. The set of agricultural variables displayed expected differences at the 2 time periods. The excess demand for farmsites increased between 1850 and 1860, while the variation in demand decreased by over one-half, reflecting additional settlement within all acres of the state. The settlement ratio increased over the decade; the sex ratio declined, most likely in response to outmigration westward. The agricultural variables were all negatively related to the child-woman ratio and were statistically significant, except for the labor/acre variable. The strongest correlation in 1850 was between the excess demand for farmsites and fertility. This coefficient indicated that the greater the excess demand for farmsites, the lower the child-woman ratio. This relationship was attentuated somewhat for 1860, yet it continued to be negative and statistically significant. The socioeconomic and demographic variables were all related to fertility in the expected direction, but only 5 of the 7 correlations were statistically significant in 1850 and 6 in 1860. The settlement ratio, sex ratio, percent urban, distance to urban place, and the measure of female age composition were all significantly related to fertility in 1850 and 1860. The study results support the growing body of research which has identified agricultural opportunity as a significant factor in fertility in rural areas of 19th century America. The findings also suggest that the importance of agricultural opportunity extended beyond the frontier period.     

Book reviews

Louise Overacker: Australian Parties in a Changing Society: 1945–67, F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1968. pp. xi + 337, $3.95.

P. Y. Medding: From Assimilation to Group Survival: A Political and Sociological Study of an Australian Jewish Community, F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne, 1968, pp. 309 + xiii, $6.00.

John R. Williams: John Latham and the Conservative Recovery from Defeat 1929–1931, APSA Monograph 10, Sydney, 1969, pp. 28, 50 cents from APSA, School of Political Science, University of N.S.W., P.O. Box 1, Kensington, N.S.W. 2033.

L. G. Churchward: Contemporary Soviet Government, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1968, pp. 366 + xix, $6.65.

A. R. Hall: The Stock Exchange of Melbourne and the Victorian Economy 1852–1900, A.N.U. Press, Canberra, 1968, pp. 267 + xiii, $7.95.

A. L. May: The Battle for the Banks, Sydney University Press, 1968, $5.00.

Robin Gollan: The Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Origins and Early History, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1968, pp. vii + 179, $5.00.

Ronald F. Stinnett: Democrats, Dinners and Dollars, The Iowa State University Press, Ames (Iowa), 1967, pp. 310, $6.30. University of Sydney.

P. N. Troy, ed.: Urban Redevelopment in Australia, Research School of Social Sciences, A.N.U., pp. 441.     

Briefly noted

CHINA OBSERVED 1964/1967. Colin Mackerras and Neale Hunter, Thomas Nelson (Australia) Ltd., 1967. Pp. 194. $4.95.     

Some New Methods of Topologic Classification of Channel Networks

Some new methods for the topologic classification of channel networks are proposed. These methods are all based on the concept of topologic path length, or number of links from the network outlet to a junction or source. Two parameters, the total path length (sum of all path lengths) and the diameter (largest path length) are shown to be useful in network analysis. Some advantages of these parameters are that they are easy to measure, have straightforward topologic interpretations, and are closely related to important geometric measures. Moreover, they are capable of explaining various empirical geomorphic “laws,” such as the 0.6 power relation between mainstream length and area.