APPENDIX I. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



The Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain : a Manual of British Geology. By the 

 late Sir Andrew C. Ramsay, LL.D. , F. R.S. , etc. Sixth edition. Edited by Horace 

 B. Woodward, F.G.S. London : Edward Stanford, 1894. 



That the late Sir Andrew Ramsay exercised a great and important influence upon the 

 progress of geological science during the last half-century is a fact concerning which there can 

 be no question. The effects of his work, however, are seen in the improvements which he 

 introduced into the methods of geological cartography, in the way in which he stimulated 

 research among his pupils, and in the public interest which he aroused by his bold and original 

 speculations, rather than in any published work that he has left behind him. But there is one 

 book of Ramsay's — that of which a new edition has now appeared — which serves to reveal the 

 greatest of our field geologists at his best. Full of accurate observations and suggestive 

 theories, this book is calculated to inspire that love of an out-of-door life which was so charac- 

 teristic of its author; while its literary charm makes itself felt by the most casual reader. No 

 better book could be put into the hands of any person desirous of knowing something of the 

 methods and results of modern geological science. 



The volume originally consisted of six lectures delivered to an audience of working men ; 

 and it is doubtful if the expansion of the group of essays into a text-book for students 

 did not somewhat detract from its value. The present editor has performed his task very 

 admirably, only making such corrections and additions as .were necessary to bring the book 

 up to date. The map and illustrations are excellent, and add greatly to the value of the work. 



The Great Ice Age, and its Relation to the Antiquity of Man. By James Geikie. LL.D., 

 D.C.L., F.R.S., etc. Third edition. London: Edward'Stanford, 1894. 



Among the most devoted pupils and friends of Ramsay, the present Murchison Professor 

 of Edinburgh, and the author of the next book on our list, has always ldved to be counted. 

 The Great Ice Age displays the same power of grouping facts, and the same boldness in 

 theorising concerning them, which characterised Ramsay. The book has long been recog- 

 nised as the ablest and most complete statement of the views of extreme glacialists ; and its 

 author has earned a reputation for industry Jn collecting and collating the observations of 

 others, for ingenuity in dealing with the arguments of opponents, and for skill in presenting 

 his own case. 



Twenty years have now elapsed since the book was originally published, and it may be 

 instructive to notice how far the speculations of its author have stood the test of time and the 

 ordeal of criticism. In the first edition, the novel astronomical theory of the late Dr. Croll 

 was very skilfully seized upon as the foundation of the book ; but the criticism of Sir R. Ball 

 and other mathematicians and physicists has led to the removal of the theory of recurrent 

 glacial epochs to a subordinate place, the subject being now dealt with in a final chapter, 

 which is almost of the nature of an appendix. The author says in his preface: " If I have 

 read the geological evidence aright, the views supported by me will stand, even should Dr. 

 Croll's theory eventually fail to find general acceptance". 



In the first edition of the Great Ice Age the occurrence at high levels of sands and gravels 

 containing marine shells in North Wales and the North of England was thought by the author 

 to indicate a submergence of the country to the depth of over 2000 feet. In the present edition 

 this great submergence is considered to be unproved ; but, on the other hand, many smaller 

 oscillations of level in different parts of the British Islands are invoked. In the first edition, 

 two principal " interglacial periods" were supposed to have interrupted the great period of 



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