9>C) revikws. 



(ieolofji/ of the Counties of Eniilaml inul of North (iiid South Wdlex. By 



W. J. Harrison. Hvo. London, 18H'2 ; pp. Ki, xxviii., 346. Price Ss. 

 Thk geology of England, as a whole, has of late years been described 

 in two volumes : Mr. Harrison has now added a third, and so brought 

 the subject up to the standard of the regulation novel. Sir A, Ramsay, 

 in his " Physical Geology and Geography of Great Britain," has treated 

 English geology from the physical standpoint, entering largely into 

 such questions as the conditions that prevailed during various geological 

 periods, and the causation of our hills, plains, valleys, and lakes. Of 

 this work it is enoixgh to say that it reached a fifth edition in 1S78, 

 and that it has gi'own from a wee volume to a bulky one of over (350 

 pages. 



Mr. H. B. Woodward, in his " Geology of England and Wales" (i96 

 pages, published in 1H7()), has given us a systematic description of our 

 various rocks in stratigraphical order, so that his book is essential to 

 workers on English geology, and forms a fit companion to that of Sir 

 A. Ramsay. 



One would have thought that these two geologists had exhausted the 

 subject, as far as a general treatise is concerned ; but Mr. Harrison has 

 cleverly cut in with a third work on a different plan, namely, from a 

 topographical standpoint. 



After a short introduction on the principles of Geology, with an 

 outline of the geology of England, and a list of the chief books and 

 papers thereon, he describes the various counties in alphabetical order. 

 At the head of each of these io descriptions is a list of the Scientific 

 Societies and Museums that flourish in the county or district, of the 

 Geological Survey publications referring to it, and of the other chief 

 works on its geology up to the latest date. The formations are then 

 noticed, beginning with the oldest, and are illustrated by more than a 

 hundred woodcuts of sections, views, and fossils. 



Of course the descriptions of the various districts cannot be of a 

 very detailed nature, their length varying from four pages, in the case 

 of Huntingdonshire and Rutland, to twelve with Lancashire, Leicester- 

 shire (it would have been hard if the author had not brought this 

 county to the front !), the West Riding of Yorkshire, and North Wales. 

 Should any southern geologist feel hurt at the natural preponderance 

 of these last divisions, it may comfort him to know that Hampshire 

 and the Isle of Wight have together 15 pages. By the use of small but 

 very clear type, the author has managed, however, to stow away a large 

 amount of information under each heading, quite enough for the gi-eat 

 maJDrity of those wishing for geologic food; whilst his lists of works 

 enable any heavy feeders, who, like Oliver Twist, ask for more, to 

 satisfy their abnormal appetite to any extent. 



Of course no one accustomed to geological work needs to be told 

 that the author camiot have uvol\ ed such a book from the depths uf his 



