1899] PROGRESSIVE VULCANOLOGY 46- 



PROCRESSIVE VULCANOLOGY. 



Volcanoes. By Prof. Bonney, D.Sc., F.R.S. 8vo, pp. xvi. + 351, with 12 

 plates, 21 figures, and a map. (The Progressive Science Series.) London : 

 John Murray, 1898. Price Gs. 



Volcanoes are of interest to so wide a circle of general readers, and, at the 

 same time, they present so many problems which engage the attention of men of 

 science, that one is often led to wonder that, numerous as are the books already 

 published about volcanoes, there are not more of them still. Historian, poet, 

 mythologist, artist, geographer, and geologist, all find in this one subject 

 matter of perennial interest, each according to his own special line of thought. 

 Little wonder, therefore, that the authors of the various books that have been 

 written about volcanic phenomena have treated their subject in styles so diverse. 

 Little wonder, also, that when a new book on the subject appears, the majority 

 of its readers, while grateful to the author for presenting them with well-known 

 facts in a new light, and for telling them much about other matters that they 

 had not known of before, yet feel that they are not quite satisfied. Whether it is 

 possible for any man to write a book on volcanoes which shall give universal 

 satisfaction is another matter — perhaps it would be safe to say that it could not 

 be done, because no two thinkers ever regard the subject in exactly the same 

 light. 



Whoever undertakes to write a book on volcanoes, should, there can be no 

 doubt, regard them quite as much in relation to both the future and the past, 

 as in their relation to the present ; and, moreover, should be capable of regard- 

 ing them quite as much from the standpoint of the astronomer as from that of a 

 geologist. It is not easy to find such a man, and it may be long before any such 

 Newton arises amongst the students of vulcanology. But Professor Bonney's 

 wide experience as a lecturer and writer on geological subjects in general, and 

 especially on the petrographical side of geology, gives him a claim to write 

 with authority on the present subject which is stronger than most other men 

 possess ; and, assuredly, most people will be agreed that it is only to a geologist 

 that such a task should be committed. 



In planning the work, Professor Bonney begins by giving an account of a 

 " living volcano," taking, as most of us would naturally do, Vesuvius as his type. 

 Now that photography has made us familiar with almost every detail regarding 

 this grand Neapolitan volcano, there is a peculiar fitness in the author's choice 

 of this as his first example. He then takes us to the Phlegraean Fields, and gives 

 us an account of the dormant and extinct volcanoes of that most interesting- 

 region. Then Stromboli is noticed as an example of an active volcano of a 

 different type, while a brief account of the terrific eruption of Krakatau or 

 Krakatoa serves as a description of an explosive outburst. Then follows a 

 description of the quiet effusive eruptions of the Sandwich Island volcanoes, 

 which are of so much importance to geologists, as illustrating the formation of 

 extensive fields of gently-inclined lavas, such as characterise the plateau type of 

 volcanic deposits. 



One would naturally expect Professor Bonney to give an excellent account of 

 the materials of volcanic rocks, and accordingly Chapter II. is devoted to this 

 important part of the subject. It is very pleasant to find him (p. 66) entering 

 a much-needed protest against the unnecessary introduction of new names for 

 rocks, a practice which bids fair to land us before long into a state of chaos 

 little better than that to which the nomenclature of ammonites has been 

 degraded. 



Next follows an account of extinct volcanoes, in connection with which are 

 given some reproductions of Dr. Tempest Anderson's beautiful photographs of 

 volcanic phenomena. Readers of Prof. Bonney's book will cordially agree with 



