1898] SOME NEW BOOKS Gl 



lique de Paris " slioiild have written a history of the world, " sans citer 

 line seule circonstance on Dieu est intervenu." This mistake tlie 

 author of the present work certainly manages to avoid. " II y a," he tells 

 us, " des cataclysmes recurrents," possibly to be attributed to the Evil 

 One ; and he continues, " chacune de ces r(5volutions a aneanti les 

 etres vivants. La creation d'une faune nouvelle a ete necessaire 

 chaque fois ensuite, pour repeupler la terre." 



The view that man has descended from some lower Aertebrate is 

 dismissed very emphatically, with language which is clearer than the 

 reasoning: "L'existence de reptiles vert(ibr^s munis de vert^bres 

 extremement rudimentaires, pendant que les os de leurs membres 

 ont des epiphyses, et que les os craniens sont tres d^velopp^s, donne 

 un dementi formel a la croyance que I'homme puisse cleriver d'uii 

 animal vert^bre." 



The view of the antiquity of man is even more sunniiarily dis- 

 missed : " L'idee d'un homme qui aurait v(5cu a I'^poque Tertiaire est 

 une hypothese gratuite, qu'aucun savant de bonne foi n'a pu etayer 

 d'un seul fait positif." Man dates only from the Quaternary, wdiich 

 is one of the three periods of the " Contemporary Epoch," of which 

 the total duration "ne depasse certainement pas 80 siecles." 



From the above extracts our readers can form their own estimate 

 of the value of the book. Possibly its main object was to inform the 

 authorities of the " Institut Catholique de Paris " that, should they 

 want a new professor of geology, it is quite possible to get men who 

 can write big books about geology, and who are orthodox enough 

 for cardinals. 



A Guide to Zeematt 



The Valley of Zermatt and the Mattekhohn : A Guide. By Edward AVIiyraper. 

 Svo, pp. xiv + 212, with 2 Maps, Panorama, and 77 Illustrations. London: J. 

 Murray, 1897. Price, 3s. 



It is not often that guide-books have any literary merit, or any value 

 beyond the immediate needs of tourists, except for topographic refer- 

 ence. Mr Whymper's guide to Zermatt is an exception. The illus- 

 trations are all of artistic merit ; the text is not only full of exactly 

 the information that a tourist wants, but it is written in perfect 

 English. The book is full of touches of subtle humour, and tells 

 such tersely and thrilling stories that it is as racy and interesting as 

 a novel. The first chapter narrates the history of Zermatt before 

 climbing days, and quotes the evidence to show that the Theodole 

 Pass into Italy was used in Eoman times. The first English visitor 

 went to Zermatt in 1800, while English mountaineering began there 

 with the ascent of the Strahlhorn in 1854 by the three brothers 

 Smyth. The succeeding four chapters tell the story of the first 

 attempts upon the Matterhorn, of the first successful ascent and its 

 tragic end, and of the subsequent history and accidents. Then 

 follows the information as to the routes to Zermatt, an account of 

 the present village and its resources, and of the principal excursions. 

 Much valuable information as to guides and their tariffs, lists of 

 peaks and passes, and tables for the conversion of metres into feet, 

 are given in the appendix. The work is a model of what a guide- 

 book should be. 



