HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G O SSI P. 



75 



(Archibald and James), besides a host of minor, but 

 important, writers; Clifton-Ward, Jukes-Brown, H. 

 B. Woodward, W. J. Harrison, W. H. Penning, etc., 

 everyone of whom must be considered both a capable 

 and authorised teacher. 



And now we have another — two promised volumes, 

 of which the present is a substantial proxy — by the 

 veteran geologist, Professor Prestwich. Such a work 

 ought to be, is sure to be, of the utmost importance. 

 Those who personally know the man — his enormous 

 and ripened knowledge of everything geological, 

 literary as well as field-work — who are acquainted 

 with the almost historical record of the innumer- 

 able papers he has contributed to various scientific 

 societies, nearly all dealing with original observation 

 and research — the gentleness, nay, modesty, of Prest- 

 wich (a rare attribute, of which, in these days, we 

 may be reasonably proud as still existing among 

 English scientists) — will expect that this new manual 

 ought to fill, and will fill, a place none other can. 

 No other science has developed, or accreted as well 

 as exfoliated, so much as geology. And Professor 

 Prestwich's active geological life extends to the days 

 of Conybeare, Buckland, Mantell, Edward Forbes, 

 Lyell, Salter, and others. What a treasure-house of 

 rich geological recollections ! 



Moreover, Professor Prestwich was always dis- 

 tinguished for the lucidity of his style of writing. 

 We are afraid the literary faculty is not always 

 cultivated among scientists as it ought to be. It is 

 surely of great importance, if we have anything to 

 say, to be able to say it. Whatever Professor Prest- 

 wich says in the present volume is said well. 



Professor Prestwich has remained consistently con- 

 servative amid all those radical changes which have 

 succeeded each other so rapidly that they have 

 eventually come round to the original point of de- 

 parture. He has always held aloof from Lyell's 

 charming theory of " Uniformitarianism " — of natural 

 forces always acting as we see them now. Professor 

 Prestwich's view has always been that ' ' the phe- 

 nomena of geology, so far from showing uniformity 

 of action in all time, present an unceasing series of 

 changes dependent upon the circumstances of the 

 time ; and that, while the laws of chemistry and 

 physics are unchangeable and as permanent as the 

 material universe itself, the exhibition of the con- 

 sequences of those laws in their operation on the 

 earth has been, as new conditions and new com- 

 binations successively arose in the course of its long 

 geological history, one of constant variation in degree 

 and intensity of action." 



There are twenty-four chapters in this volume, 

 none touching on fossils except chapter v., which 

 deals with the " Order, Place, and Range of Past 

 Life." Here Professor Prestwich is too conservative, 

 notwithstanding his adherence to the evolutionistic 

 cause ; for he arranges fhe existing order of 

 animals, invertebrate and vertebrate, in_ a classifica- 



tion which has been exploded for some time ; I 

 which we hope the author will correct in another 

 and a speedily required edition of this valuable life- 

 work. 



Catalogue of the Palceozoic Plants in the Department 

 of Geology and Palceontology, British Museum, by 

 Robert Kidston, F.G.S. We are pleased to notice 

 this work (first) because the trustees of the British 

 Museum are the only Government authorities who 

 behave towards the scientific press of this country 

 after the generous manner of the United States 

 Government, in sending out their publications for 

 notice, and in thus letting the world know what they 

 are doing ; and (second) because no man has carried 

 scientific common sense into the region of Palaso-bo- 

 tany more than Mr. Robert Kidston. An enormous 

 amount of comparative work is here condensed into 

 scientific order, and the result is of the utmost im- 

 portance to geologists. 



The Tourists' Guide to the Flora of the Alps 

 (London : Swan Sonnenschein &: Co.). This is the 

 very sort of book we are frequently asked to re- 

 commend by botanical tourists. , It was compiled 

 by Prof. Dalla-Torre, and has been translated and 

 edited by Mr. A. W. Bennett, so that it comes to us 

 with high warranty of excellence. The original 

 work was issued under the auspices of the German 

 and Austrian Alpine Club in Vienna. The get-up 

 of the work is artistic as well as utilitarian, for its 

 red morocco cover wraps over like a pocket-book. 

 The paper is thin, but strong ; the type clear, and 

 the book can easily be stowed away in the breast- 

 pocket. 



Lewis's Pocket Medical Vocabulary (London : H. 

 K. Lewis, 136 Gower Street). A capital little dic- 

 tionary of the vast specialistic terms in medical 

 science which even the most distinguished of practi- 

 tioners cannot be expected to carry in his head ; 

 and why should he, when this little book of 217 pages 

 carries them much better in his waistcoat pocket ? 



Handbook of Mosses, by J. E. Bagnall, A.L.S. 

 (London : Swan Sonnenschein & Co.). There was 

 unquestionable room for a popular work of this kind, 

 and we do not think any botanist in England could 

 have been better selected to compile it than Mr. 

 Bagnall. It deals with the appliances required for 

 the study of mosses, their development, habitats, 

 classification, geographical distribution, cultivation, 

 uses, preparation for the herbarium, etc., and is 

 profusely illustrated and published at one shilling. 



We have also received — Kaffir Folk-Lore, by 

 G. McCall Theal, second edition (London : Swan 

 Sonnenschein & Co.), a selection from the traditional 

 tales current among the people living on the eastern 

 border of Cape Colony. The study of folk-lore is 

 now very popular, and this work is therefore both 

 useful and interesting. By-and-by we may expect 

 some writer will have genius enough to establish a 

 comparative system of folk-lore. Also, History of the 



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