440 Chronicles of Science. [July, 



cases of consumption is dno " to the presence of a larger volume of 

 carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere than exists here ! ! ! " 



Mr, Mossman's book is a most wonderful compilation of ex- 

 tracts, strung together by such original pieces of fine writing as 

 the following : * — " Let us imagine the sea boihng, bubbling, and 

 steaming above the domes of red-hot trachyte, swelling and 

 bursting as they rose towards its surface, and then ejecting tlu'ough 

 volcanic cones and yawning fissures such masses of lava as to form 

 so many thousand miles of mountains ; let us conceive the shocks 

 and quakes of the earth in this era of her travail, when the pent- 

 uj) volcanic forces caused her to rend the solid framework of her 

 sphere a perturbed daughter of the sun, the most comnilsive child 

 of the solar system. " ! ! 



'Geological Fragments collected principally from Rambles 

 among the Rocks of Furness and Cartmel ' f (Lancashire), by John 

 Bolton, is a description by a humble geological worker (an entirely 

 self-taught man) of the various excursions in and about Furness 

 and Cartmel, with notes on the formations and fossils to be seen, 

 and the scenes and people among which he has worked; but we 

 hardly think it will be read by many beyond the author's circle of 

 friends. 



' Chips and Chapters, a Book for Amateurs and Young Geolo- 

 gists,' is the title of a small 8vo volume of 300 pages, by that 

 indefatigable writer, David Page, LL.D., F.G.S., &c.t This is 

 intended as a reading-book for the many, and is an endeavour on 

 the part of the author to put before the general public some of the 

 more prominent facts and bearings of geological science in a read- 

 able form. The utility of " Geology as a Branch of Education " § 

 is a chapter deserving of especial study. We hope the author may 

 be as well satisfied with the sale of his book as we are with its 

 perusal. 



On Physical Geology there are contributions by G. Poulett 

 Scrope, " On the Supposed Internal Fluidity of the Earth," || and 

 " On the Influx of Water as the Cause of Volcanic Eruptions ; "H 

 by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, "On the Probable Seat of Volcanic 

 Action ; " ** by Mr. David Forbes, " On the Nature of the Interior 



of the Earth.' tt 



In the first paper Mr. Scrope argues in favour of the ulterior 

 mass of the earth being held down in a solidified form by tho 



* ' On Volcanic Forces in South America, Sec.,' p. 101. 



t Ulvcrston: D. Atkinson; and London: Whitfaker & Co. 8vo. 18G9. 

 Pp. 264. 



X Kflinburgh and London : Blackwood & Sons. § Pp. 78-104. 



II ' (Tcologioal Magazine' (April), p. Ma. 



t Ibid. (May), p. lOG. ** Ibid. (June), p. 245. 



tt * Popular Science Review ' (April), p. 121. 



