HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A GOSSIP ABOUT NEW BOOKS. 



'HANKS to the 



intellectual ac- 

 tivity of our 

 numerous cor- 

 respondents, 

 the notices of 

 several impor- 

 tant volumes 

 which have been forwarded us 

 for review have had to lie by. 

 As regards some of them, how- 

 ever, it would be uiijust both 

 to their authors and to such of 

 our readers as have not yet 

 been introduced to them, to 

 postpone these brief notices 

 any longer. 



Undoubtedly the work 

 which has most deservedly 

 taken the attention of geologists 

 for some time is Mr. James Geikie's " Great Ice 

 Age" (London: W. Ibister & Co.). As the title sug- 

 gests, this portly volume of nearly 600 pages is 

 entirely devoted to the geology of that latest epoch, 

 the " Glacial," when all our superficial beds of sand, 

 clay, and gravel were formed. Mr. Geikie's style 

 is simple and unpretentious. It is that of a man 

 who, unlike Canning's " Knife-grinder," has a story 

 to tell, and is too earnest in telling it to waste time 

 in superfluous ornamentation. In its surpassing 

 interest, the story of the "Drift" formation is not 

 approached by that of any other great deposit. No 

 formation testifies so largely to the industry of 

 modern geologists as this, for it is not more than 

 thirty years since the strata included in it were 

 ascribed either to the Noachian Deluge, or to some 

 sudden and violent cataclysm. Within that brief 

 period geologists in all parts of the world have 

 been investigating glacial phenomena, and studying 

 the distribution of the surface deposits. Hundreds 

 of papers have been read thereon in metropolitan 

 and provincial societies, or written in scientific 

 magazines. At length the truth began plainly to 

 No. 122. 



loom out of the dense fog, and geologists were 

 rewarded for half their work by seeing their way 

 clearer to the other half. Commencing with the 

 ^re-glacial beds in Britain, they discovered that an 

 immense period of time was thoroughly represented 

 by them and others, during which the climature of 

 the Northern hemisphere, at least, underwent a 

 rigorous change, so that an Arctic climate replaced 

 the modern temperate. This phenomenon passed 

 away as gradually as it came, leaving the post- 

 glacial beds behind to testify to its close. 



It is with this great subject that Mr. Geikie has 

 elected to deal. A well-known " Drift " geologist 

 himself, he has undertaken to examine, collate, and 

 compare all that others have said or discovered. 

 The result is this " Manual " of the glacial beds. 

 One point particularly dwelt upon is the changes of 

 climate which the author believes the Drift beds as 

 a whole indicate. Mr. Geikie believes this change 

 repeatedly occurred during the Glacial period, 

 although we cannot but think he gives unnecessary 

 importance to some of his illustrations, and is will- 

 ing to accept facts of too local a character. Some 

 geologists, also, will be inclined to disagree from the 

 comparison he institutes between the ages of the 

 Scotch and East Anglian drifts. These, however, 

 are matters of small importance, and will inevitably 

 be set right by the impetus which the publication of 

 this book has given to this fascinating part of geo- 

 logy. What we have most to be thankful for is the 

 clear and systematic account of the Glacial epoch 

 here given ; and the success which has already at- 

 tended the sale of the book is the best proof that 

 it has been widely appreciated. 



Professor David Page's work on " Economic Gec^ 

 logy " (London : W. Blackwood & Sons) is of more 

 recent issue than that just noticed. It deals with a 

 most important subject, and can hardly be said to 

 have completely met it. Indeed, the author seems 

 cognisant of this, for he invites further assistance 

 and suggestion. The greatly increased number of 

 objects of commercial importance with which geo- 

 logy now comes into contact, renders such a work 



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