3IO NATURAL SCIENCE. J^''^'^- 



very speculative subject of the astronomical causes of changes of 

 climate. No doubt we have abundant evidence of one " Glacial 

 Epoch," apparently with a mild interval, and, so far, the naturalist 

 is entitled to speculate on the influence of climatic changes on the 

 migration of animals and plants. But when he hears of alternating 

 cold and warm periods, extending throughout geological time, 

 the geologist feels that the facts, as far as he has yet been able to 

 ascertain them, do not yield clear evidence of any cold period older 

 than that of Pleistocene date. When a book on " Island Life " 

 contains a section on the " State of the Planet Mars as bearing on 

 the Theory of Excentricity as a Cause of Glacial Epochs," one 

 cannot help feeling that the author is perhaps wandering a little from 

 the subject. 



One other request we should like to make to Mr. Wallace, in 

 view of a third edition. Much has lately been learnt as to the 

 means by which animals and plants are transported across the sea, 

 and valuable accounts have been published of the re-establishment 

 of life on Krakatoa after total extermination by a volcanic eruption. 

 Such observations are most important for the right understanding 

 of insular faunas and floras. Could not the author devote a little 

 more space to these subjects, so as to make his book a complete 

 manual for students of Island Life ? C. R. 



Kalm's Account of his Visit to England on his way to America in 1748. 

 Translated by Joseph Lucas. 8vo. Pp. xvi., 480. London: Macmillan and 

 Co., 1892. Price 12s. net. 



The Naturalist may sometimes rejoice with the Historian in accounts 

 of journeys made in this country before the present century. Thus 

 the " Travels in England, Scotland, and the Hebrides," of Faujas 

 Saint- Fond (translated and published in 1799), contain many 

 interesting notes on the minerals and rocks of the districts visited, 

 the author being Professor of Geology in the Museum of Natural 

 History at Paris. 



Pehr Kalm, the account of whose visit is now before us, was 

 born in Sweden in 1716; he became a pupil of Linnaeus, and sub- 

 sequently assisted his master with contributions to the Flora Suecica. 

 After travelling over much of eastern Europe, Kalm was, in 1747, 

 nominated as the first Professor of (Economy at Abo, and in the 

 same year he was commissioned by the Swedish Government (aided 

 by the Universities) to visit North America. He was instructed to 

 observe and describe the natural productions of that country, the 

 special object being the introduction into Sweden of useful plants. 

 He arrived in England in February, 1748, but for want of a vessel 

 to cross to America, he was obliged to wait in this country until the 

 5th August. To this delay we owe his notes on England, which 

 have been happily translated from the Swedish by Mr. Lucas. 

 Kalm's original work occupied three volumes, which are now very 

 scarce, but the American portion was rendered into English in the 

 last century. 



While delayed in this country, Kalm made observations from 

 four centres — London, Woodford, Little Gaddesden in Hertfordshire, 

 and Gravesend. His notes are of a very miscellaneous character. 

 They relate largely to agriculture, but also include many notes of 

 the strata, especially of the Chalk and Totternhoe Stone, and of the 

 Tertiary gravels and clays. He records sections in considerable 



