122 



NAIURE 



\yitne 6, 1889 



of the Kingdom, as for the Colonies, it is sufficient that 

 there should be access, as heretofore, to examinations and 

 to degrees.'' This dictum, a curiously inaccurate one, if 

 we consider the recent foundation of the Victoria Uni- 

 versity, not to speak of Colonial and Indian teaching 

 Universities, will hardly be accepted by the country Col- 

 leges which still look, and must for some time continue 

 to look, to the University of London for degrees. They 

 will claim representation on its governing body, if not 

 also on its Faculties and Boards of Studies ; and if its 

 functions are restricted to the control of examinations, we 

 do not see on what principle the claim can be refused. 

 The refusal to admit institutions at a distance is justi- 

 fiable if the first business of the University is to teach ; 

 but hardly plausible if its function is only to examine. 



Nor is this all. In order to obviate " the risk of 

 practical injustice being done to candidates for degrees 

 from country Colleges or from no Colleges at all," the 

 Commissioners propose to establish what they call a 

 " balance in the government of the University and in 

 determining^^ the course of the examinations and the 

 choice of examiners," between the associated institutions 

 and "independent elements." This they attempt by 

 assigning a majority in the governing body to Crown 

 nominees and the representatives of Convocation. This 

 provision will in no way help to keep the University in 

 touch with the teaching of the country Colleges ; but it 

 will undoubtedly entail the risk, which has been over- 

 looked by the Commissioners, of producing a want of 

 flexibility in the administration of the examinations, con- 

 sidered as accessories to study in the London Colleges. 

 The University will thus start on its teaching career with 

 a clog about its movements. Differences of opinion are 

 sure to arise among its administrators, as often as an 

 alteration of its programme is proposed in the interests of 

 the London teaching ; and these will be differences which 

 no wisdom or moderation will entirely obviate, because 

 they will be due to a fundamental difference in the point 

 of view. We strongly apprehend that an institution so 

 framed will be found to contain within itself the seeds of 

 failure. In any case it will hardly obtain that large 

 measure of confidence from the Colleges which would lead 

 them to intrust it with any power over their teaching. 



The initial fallacy of the whole Report may be traced to 

 a little word in the twelfth page of it, paragraph 15. 

 The Commissioners say: "Whatever difficulties there may 

 be in the way of establishment of such form of connection 

 as may be desirable between a teaching University for 

 London and the different bodies and agencies now 

 engaged in kindred work on an independent footing, we 

 think it probable that these difficulties may be more 

 easily overcome if the groimd were occupied by one 

 University only, and not by two." The ground proposed 

 to be covered is not one field of work, but two. There 

 is the work of affording by means of a general examination 

 a test of attainment for students in institutions of as yet 

 imperfect efficiency, and for private students. There is 

 also the work of organizing the teaching, with its 

 examinations closely following and dependent on the 

 teaching, in the efficient Colleges of London. The two 

 differ essentially, not merely in area, but in purpose. 

 The attempt to devise an instrument competent to 

 TPgulate both at once h^s failed, as it was bou id to fail. 



Whatever line is now taken by the University of London^ 

 we trust that the promoters of the movement, who have 

 succeeded hitherto so far beyond expectation, will stand! 

 fast by their principles, and not forfeit, by a too great 

 eagerness for immediate results, the success which is 

 certain ultimately to crown their efforts. 



TA SMA NIA N GE OL O G V. 



Systematic Account of the Geology of Tasmania. By 

 Robert M. Johnston, F.L.S. Pp. 408, with Geological 

 Map and Sections, and 57 Plates of Fossils. (Hobart : 

 Published by the authority of the. Government, 1888.) 



NEARLY forty-five years have elapsed since Count 

 Strzelecki and Prof. J. Beete Jukes, working inde- 

 pendently, made known to geologists the main features of 

 the important island of Van Diemen's Land. In the- 

 interval between the publication of their researches and 

 the present day, numerous papers treating on questions 

 of local geology have been published by Mr. Charles- 

 Gould— who for a time was engaged in making a geo- 

 logical survey of the colony — and by many amateur 

 geological investigators. No complete description of the 

 geology of the whole colony has as yet appeared, however ; 

 and we therefore heartily welcome the large and compre- 

 hensive volume now lying before us, as supplying a 

 long-felt and pressing want. 



The author of this work, Mr. Robert M. Johnston 

 is the Government Statistician and Registrar-General 

 of Tasmania ; and during the last sixteen years he 

 has devoted much time and labour to the study of the 

 geology and natural history of the colony in which he- 

 resides, and has published numerous papers dealing with 

 questions of stratigraphical geology and palaeontology,, 

 as well as of botany and zoology. In the year 1884, Mr. 

 Johnston was requested by the Tasmanian Government 

 to write a general treatise on the geology of the island ;. 

 and the present work has been prepared during the 

 leisure hours of a busy Government official. 



The Island of Tasmania has an area of a little more 

 than 26,000 square miles, or between four and five times- 

 that of Yorkshire. Over large parts of the island there 

 is a covering of almost impenetrable scrub ; while the 

 rivers are large enough to make traverses of the country 

 by no means an easy task ; and the rainfall is heavy. 

 The interesting details of the methods of exploration, 

 given in the introductory chapter of this work, illustrate 

 the nature of the difficulties which have had to be 

 overcome in making the researches upon which the 

 work is based. We cannot but admire the energy and 

 zeal which have been exhibited in carrying out the 

 numerous and valuable observations that have made the 

 present work possible. 



The excellent sketch-map of the geology of Tasmania^ 

 drawn on a scale of 15 miles to the inch, gives a very 

 good idea of the general distribution of the several rock- 

 masses. The oldest formations appear on the west and 

 on the north-east of the island, and consist of crystalline 

 schists, apparently belonging to the Archaean periods, 

 associated with clayslates, quartzites, sandstones, and 

 limestones of Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian age,, 

 with some small and doubtful representatives of the 

 Devonian. The pal^eontological evidence concerning tl^f: 



I 



