464 SOME NEW BOOKS [june 



the author in hoping that Dr. Anderson will shortly see his way to publishing a 

 large number of these instructive and beautiful views. 



Frequent references are made to Sir Archibald Geikie's " The Ancient 

 Volcanoes of Great Britain " in this chapter. But surely Sir Archibald is not 

 responsible for the statement made on p. 147, that most of the lavas on Arthur's 

 Seat are " porphyrites." There is an excellent account in Chapter II. of the 

 exposure of volcanic rocks on the Fifeshire coast, which are probably amongst the 

 best examples of their kind in existence. 



On pp. 162-164 the author makes some reference to the physical relations 

 between the bounding surfaces of intrusive masses and those of the rocks they 

 invade. In connection with this it is well known by many field geologists that 

 this relation is one which indicates the replacement of the one by an equivalent 

 volume of the other. Explain it how one may, there can be no doubt about the 

 actual fact. Many readers will think that the author might have made some 

 fuller reference to this especially interesting point, even if, in doing so, less had 

 been said about the so-called " laccolites.'' 



Chapter IV. gives an excellent summary of the chief points of interest 

 connected with the oldest British volcanoes. 



Then follows an account of existing volcanoes, considered mainly in reference 

 to their geographical relations. 



The concluding chapter, which is perhaps that which will prove of most 

 interest to all, deals mainly with theoretical considerations. It may fairly be 

 described as an admirable summary of the chief points of interest in this 

 connection. As the reader puts the book down he cannot help feeling that if, 

 here and there, his own way of viewing the facts may be somewhat different 

 from the author's, yet the book as a whole is full of suggestive matter, and will 

 form an admirable companion volume to the works of the best previous writers 

 on vulcanology. • J. G. G. 



HISTORY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 



Grundriss einer Geschichte der Naturwissenschaf ten, zugleich eine Einf iihrung 

 in das Studium der grundlegenden naturwissenschaftlichen Litteratur. 

 By Dr. Friedrich Dannemann. 8vo. Leipzig : Engelmann. 

 Band I. Erlauterte Abschnitte aus den Werken hervorragender Natur- 



forscher. Pp. xii. + 375, Avith 44 figs. 1896. Price 6 Marks. 

 Band II. Die Entwickelung der Naturwissenschaften. Pp. 435, with 76 

 figs, and a spectrum plate. 1898. Price 9 Marks. 



In the young student's haste to gorge his brain with facts which are pre- 

 sented to him in abundance, and even in his maturer haste to hunt and discover 

 for himself, little opportunity is left for an adequate appreciation of the history 

 of science. Every one admits the grandeur of the historical development, and 

 its importance is recognised by all who use the evolution idea as a formula in 

 thinking, yet it seems impossible to avoid the confession that the historical 

 aspect of science receives comparatively little attention in this country. In 

 many a text- book there is, except in the bibliography, hardly a suggestion 

 that the subject has had a history at all ; in many a course of lectures it 

 is the same ; and the student receives his up-to-date science like a translucent 

 and differentially-stained histological section dropped down on his slide by a 

 demonstrator with a bowlful — a section so beautiful and clear, that in his saner 

 moments the ingenuous beginner does sometimes wonder how it came to be 

 as it is. 



With the laudable aim of lessening this defect in our scientific education 

 Dr. Dannemann has prepared the two volumes before us, which he modestly 

 recommends to all interested in the methods and results of exact science. In 

 the first volume, he pursues a very interesting and natural method, that of 



