158 SCIENCE Itf SHORT CHAPTERS. 



aims at thoroughness, be satisfied with a general knowledge of 

 the great body of science, and a special and full acquaintance 

 with only one or two of its minor subdivisions. Thus geology, 

 though but a branch of natural history, and the youngest of its 

 branches, has now become so extensive that its ablest votaries 

 are compelled to devote their best efforts to the study of sec- 

 tions which but a few years ago were scarcely definable. 



Glaciation is one of these, which now demands its own ele- 

 mentary text-books over and above the monographs of original 

 investigators. This demand has been well supplied by Mr. 

 James Geikie in " The Great Ice Age," * of which a second 

 edition has just been issued. Every student of glacial phe- 

 nomena owes to Mr. Geikie a heavy debt of gratitude for the 

 invaluable collection of facts and philosophy which this work 

 presents. It may now be fairly described as a standard treatise 

 on the subject which it treats. 



One leading feature of the work offers a very aggressive in- 

 vitation to criticism. Scotchmen are commonly accused of 

 looking upon the whole universe through Scotch spectacles, and 

 here we have a Scotchman treating a subject which affects near- 

 ly the whole of the globe, and devoting about half of his book 

 to the details of Scottish glacial deposits ; while England has 

 but one third of the space allowed to Scotland, Ireland but 

 a thirtieth, Scandinavia less than a tenth, North America a 

 sixth, and so on with the rest of the world. Disproportionate 

 as this may appear at first glance, further acquaintance with the 

 work justifies the pre-eminence which Mr. Geikie gives to the 

 Scotch glacial deposits. Excepting Norway, there is no coun- 

 try in Europe which affords so fine a field for the study of the 

 vestiges of extinct glaciers as Scotland, and Scotland has an 

 advantage even over Norway in being much better known in 

 geological detail. Besides this, we must always permit the 

 expounder of any subject to select his own typical illustrations, 

 and welcome his ability to find them in a region which he him- 

 self has directly explored. 



Mr. Geikie's connection with the Geological Survey of Scot- 

 land has afforded him special facilities for making good use of 

 Scottish typical material, and he has turned these opportunities 

 to such excellent account that no student after reading ** The 

 Great Ice Age" will find fault with its decided nationality. 



* " The Great Ice Age, and its Relation to the Antiquity of Man." 

 By James Geikie, F. B. S., &c. Second edition, revised, 1877. Daldy 

 and Isbister. 



