Bibliographical Notices. 153 
Acadian Geology: the Geological Structure, Organic Remains, and 
Mineral Resources of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince 
Edward Island. By J. W. Dawson, M.A., LL.D., &c. &c. &e. 
Second Edition, revised and enlarged; with Geological Map and 
numerous Illustrations. 8vo. London, 1868. 
We have before us three new and greatly enlarged editions of im- 
portant geological works, of which geologists may well be proud, as 
showing the advance of the science and the manner in which first- 
class writers can and do treat of it, and of which geologists also 
assuredly make every-day use, both at home and abroad, in the 
cabinet and in the field. One of these noble works is purely philo- 
sophical, giving the principles on which the science is founded ; the 
others magnificently and in detail show the application of these 
principles in the study of the structure, history, and capabilities of 
large portions of the globe. 
All geologists know the value of Lyell’s ‘ Principles of Geology,’ 
the object of which is well expressed in its title—namely, to eluci- 
date the causes and history of those changes on the earth’s surface 
that have been, by a careful study and full exposition of the changes 
Wwe can now recognize as taking place in both the organic and 
the inorganic world. Without this idea of the continuous and 
similar, but ever-varying, operations of natural agencies, the Philo- 
sophy of Geology would be wanting in its leading principle. In 
Sir Charles’s own words, ‘“ The ‘ Principles’ treat of such portions 
of the economy of existing nature, animate and inanimate, as are 
illustrative of geology, so as to comprise an investigation of the per- 
manent effects of causes now in action, which may serve as records 
to after-ages of the present condition of the globe and its inhabi- 
tants. Such effects are the enduring monuments of the ever-varying 
state of the physical geography of the globe, the lasting signs of its 
destruction and renovation, and the memorials of the equally fluc- 
tuating condition of the organic world. They may be regarded, in 
short, as a symbolic language, in which the earth’s autobiography is 
written.” Besides this special subject, the work before us gives us 
the historical sketch of the early progress of geological knowledge, 
which has served as a mine for all popular writers on geology ; also 
*‘a series of preliminary essays to explain the facts and arguments 
which lead me,” says the author, ‘to believe that the forces now 
operating upon and beneath the earth’s surface may be the same, 
both in kind and degree, as those which at remote epochs have 
worked out geological changes.” With this principle is bound up 
the personal interest of this excellent and charming book. Excel- 
lent in its original plan, in its steady growth and advance through 
riper and riper editions, and charming in its perfect English, elegant 
style, and fascinating hold upon the reader. Without some legiti- 
mate bias, some special aim, the best-written book may prove merely 
a heavy work of reference. A thread for the necklace, a string to 
bind the bouquet, a persistent idea in a scientific work, connecting 
the collected facts and notions as a philosophic whole, is requisite 
