12 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Fig. 24. — Cambro-Silurian and Silurian Fossils. From Kinahan's "Geology 

 of Ireland," Plate II. 



Geology of Ireland, physical and stra- 

 tigraphical, is treated in the methodi- 

 cal detail which is most valuable to a 

 student. We might take exception to 

 some of Mr. Kinahan's conclusions as 

 to the evidences of marine denudation 

 he freely quotes, for in many respects 

 the author is antagonistic to the 

 " subaerialists " in geology who at 

 present have the explanations all their 

 own way. And we think it would 

 have been better if the old instead 

 of the new technical terms had been 

 adopted. 



The book is divided into five sec- 

 tions, each containing several chapters. 

 These sections are devoted severally 

 to "Sedimentary Rocks," "Metamor- 

 phic and Eruptive Rocks," " Super- 

 ficial Accumulations," " Physical 

 Features," and " Economical Pro- 

 ducts." It is illustrated by many 

 woodcuts, the sketches of which are 

 original, and some very good ; and 

 also by eight plates of fossils, &c, of 

 whose merit the reader can best judge 

 by the two which, through the kind- 

 ness of the publishers, we are enabled 

 to lay before them. The style in 

 which the book is written is well 

 suited to the subject, being matter- 

 of-fact and clear. Mr. Kinahan, with 

 Irish generosity, adopts the commend- 

 able practice of giving to all those 

 geologists who have in any way helped 

 him, or whose works are quoted, the 

 fullest credit they deserve. 



This " Manual " will henceforth 

 be necessary to the student of the 

 geology of the British Islands, and 

 particularly that of Ireland. It is in 

 every sense of the word most credit- 



post-glacial peat-bogs, turbaries, relics of ancient man 

 and ancient art — surely in this short summary of rocks 

 of every geological age and mineralogical character 

 we have the secret of that picturesque and scenic 

 natural beauty which the "Green Island" possesses 

 more than any other in the northern hemisphere. 



Mr. Kinahan's "Manual of Irish Geology" is a 

 most useful addition to our scientific literature. No 

 other geologist was so competent to the task, for 

 Mr. Kinahan has been engaged on the Irish Survey 

 for many years, and now occupies the honourable 

 position of senior geologist. He has in person 

 examined, worked out, mapped, and surveyed the 

 most difficult and important parts of the geology of 

 Ireland. He has long been recognised as a keen 

 observer of physical geology, and the book before us 

 is filled with the results of a life's hard work. The 



able to its author, and we hope it will bring him the 

 scientific honours he so well deserves. 



MICROSCOPY. 



"The Germ Theory of Infectious Diseases." 

 — This is the title of the address delivered by Dr. 

 Drysdale, as president of the Liverpool Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. It is a pamphlet of 74 pages, 

 published by Bailliere, Tindall, & Cox. We know 

 of no other similar paper which is so clear and com- 

 prehensive, so original and logical. It is not only a 

 capital summary of all that has been said and written 

 and experimented on this most important subject, but 

 it lays down the basis of new experiments, with a 

 view to determining the simpler and less complex 

 theories. 



