60 NATURAL SCIENCE [January 



self acquainted with recent work in the Fungi, especially as regards 

 the question of a sexual process ; and a better and longer account 

 should have been given of the Bryophyta. The arrangement of the 

 seed-plants is practically that of Eicheer, but the treatment is not cal- 

 culated to excite enthusiasm on the part of the student. It is fvdl 

 enough, in fact too full ; the omission of the formidable-looking small 

 print keys to the families, orders, and genera would have saved much 

 space in the book and many groans on the student's part. A good 

 feature is the description of a well-known plant in illustration of some 

 of the natural orders ; provided the plant is a typical one the student 

 gets a concrete knowledge of the order of which it is a representative. 

 Enough has, however, been said to give those interested a notion of the 

 value of Prof. Courchet's hand-book, and also to suggest wherein im- 

 provements may be made should other editions be called for. 



Faulty Geology 



Failles et GSogenie d'apres les Observations et D^couvertes faites dans le 

 NiVERNAis. By F. Lefort. [Publie par les soins de I'Institut Scientifique du 

 Sacre-Coeur a Paray-le-Monial.] Pp. 259, with 6 pi. of sections, and one large 

 map (1 m. 10 by 1 m. 20.) 4°. Paris : H. Le Soudier, 1897. Price, 20 fr. 



" Geology is the study of the planet on which we live. Its special 

 aim is the definition of the different mineral materials which compose 

 the earth," begins M. Lefort. It would be discourteous to M. Lefort 

 after this assurance of his belief to express any doubt as to whether 

 this be his real idea of the special aim of geology. But if it be, then 

 geology must have an extra special aim — the confusion of the evolu- 

 tionists and the justification of Moses. M. Lefort's work is a bulky 

 quarto, and it is illustrated by an enormous map of the Nivernais ; but 

 unfortunately neither of them can be regarded as a serious contribu- 

 tion to scientific progress ; the map is cut up by a vast series of faults, 

 which cross at regular angles, and make the map look like a mosaic 

 of lozenge-shaped pieces of different colours. The faults are classified 

 according to their exact orientation. It is more pretty than plausible. 

 The Nivernais has been mapped by the Geological Survey of France, 

 and most of the author's faults are omitted from the official maps. We 

 must say that on comparison of the two, the latter appear by far the 

 more plausible. 



The text is not easy to summarise, but a series of quotations will 

 illustrate the author's standard. There is a great deal of petrology in 

 the volume, and its value can be estimated from the following : " The 

 granites are more ancient than syenites and porphyries ; after them 

 come the trachytes and basalts, and finally the lavas of modern vol- 

 canoes." As an example of his palaeontology we may quote the 

 following : " Les plus anciens crinoides sont superieurs a leurs plus 

 recents congeneres ; les echinides qui out possede 125 esp^ces n'en 

 comptent pas aujourd'hui 50. Les poissons des premiers temps I'em- 

 portent sur ceux qui peuplent actuellement nos mers. Les labyrintho- 

 dontes, amphibiens qui vont apparaitre tout d'un coup gigantesque 

 pendant I'ere Triasique, ne sont pas moins superieurs aux batraciens 

 qu'ils ont devances. On ne leur connait ni ancetres ni descendants " 

 (p. 16). The author also quotes with ol)vious approval an expression 

 of surjjiise that a " celebre professeur de geologic a I'Institut catho- 



