Review 0/ Mrs. Somerville's Connexion of the Physical Sciences. 247 



in the different formations^ as they are of greater or less antiquity, con- 

 cludes this portion of the work. We may here observe, that it is much to 

 be regretted that tlie scientific public are yet destitute of any good ele- 

 mentary work on organic remains, and would earnestly recommend to the 

 present author to supply this deficiency, which must ever render all general 

 allusions to the subject in an elementary work on Geology less intelligible to 

 the common reader. The third part of Mr. Piiillips's present treatise enters 

 into a fuller descriptive and practical account of the tertiary, secondary, and 

 primary strata, (considered under views exactly similar to those adopted 

 in our own first number) together with volcanic and plutonic rocks; the 

 whole being prefaced by a general list of the principal minerals which 

 enter into their constitution. 



A fourth part, or rather appendix, containing tables and calcnlations, Sec. 

 on tlie physical relatioi;s of the globe and its temperature, and on tlie ap- 

 plication and use, for geological purposes, of such instrnments as the 

 thermometer, barometer, and clinometer, conclude the work : which is 

 illustrated by a small outline map of the Geology of England, a plate of 

 sections, and a very interesting frontispiece exhibiting the first example of 

 a species of drawing singularly adapted for geological subjects ; this con- 

 sists of a general bird's-eye view of the whole Isle of Wight, supposed to 

 be split through the midst by a transverse fissure, so as to exhibit its con- 

 stituent formations in sections, while their appearance as actually exhibited 

 in the cliflfs of the southern coast is at the same time presented to th<? view. 

 Mr. Phillips has been for several years favourably known to the geological 

 public by his excellent Survey of the Yorkshire coast ; and is also, we 

 believe, a nephew of Mr. Smith, who has been deservedly named the father 

 of English Geology. 



On the Connea'ion of' the Physical Sciences. By Mary Somerville. Vlmo. 

 jq). -193. J. Murray, ISo5. 



"The progress of modern science," observes Mrs. Somerville, "has been 

 remarkable for a tendency to simplify the laws of nature, and to unite 

 detached branches by general ])rinciples." It is to point out these ten- 

 dencies towards simplicity, and these general principles, indications of 

 which are from so many points apparent, or in other words, to shew the 

 connexion of the physical sciences, that the present volume has been 

 written. 



In an age of ignorance men are incapable of judicious observation, and 

 are not sufficiently aware of tlie distinction between the essentials and ac- 

 cidents of any plnenomenon upon which their attention may have been 

 directed ; they are unaccustomed to abstract reasoning, and their con- 

 clusions are liable to be rendered fallacious by the introduction of un- 

 necessary elements among their data. The form of a rain -drop is observed 



