276 



NATURE 



\_7uly II, 187S 



appears to me not improbable that natural forces will be 

 resorted to simply on account of their comparative cheap- 

 ness and convenience of application." 



WEST YORKSHIRE 

 West Yorkshire: an Account of its Geology, Physical 

 Geography, Climatology, and Botany. Part I. — Geo- 

 logy. By J. W. Davis, F.G.S., F.L.S. Part II.— 

 Physical Geography and Botanical Topography. By 

 J. W. Davis and F. Arnold Lees, F.L.S. With Maps 

 and Plates. (L. Reeve and Co., 1878.) 



THE merit of a work on local geology or natural his- 

 tory may be of two distinct kinds. The author 

 may be an original investigator of a little-known area,'and 

 his book a positive addition to our knowledge ; or the 

 volume may be a tapestry, into which the scattered threads 

 of information are worked by one who has the mastery of 

 them all, and who presents us with the picture they have 

 formed in his mind. It is to excellence of this latter kind 

 the authors of "West Yorkshire" aspire. They have 

 gathered from the contributions of all local observers, 

 and have so assimilated the material with their own 

 knowledge, as to render the substance of their book a 

 useful outline of the geology and botany of the district 

 they have chosen to illustrate. An area included within 

 the region of Prof. Phillips's classical work on the 

 mountain limestone districts of Yorkshire, and upon 

 v.hose coal-bearing and associated strata so much good 

 work has been done by the Government Survey, does not 

 leave much room for novelty in its geology, though the 

 botany, especially as treated in this book, is in rather a 

 different case. The great merit of the work would there- 

 fore consist in the lucid and comprehensive manner in 

 which it presents the scattered information to us as a 

 whole. This, however, it scarcely possesses in as great a 

 degree as most of the books of its class. 



Examined in detail there are some points which call for 

 remark. The introductory chapter is mostly occupied with 

 a description of the boundary line of the riding — a most 

 uninteresting subject — but it is enlivened by the accounts 

 of the Pennine and Craven faults. The drawing of the 

 latter, however, on the maps does not coincide with the 

 description, and the former is scarcely indicated. This map 

 —a. most excellent one and derived from the best sources 

 — unfortunately contains one or two other errors, viz., 

 the Ingleton coal-field is wrongly coloured, and the words 

 " upper Silurian " and "lower Silurian" are mismatched in 

 the " references." In the next chapter the small Silurian 

 area is well though shortly described, and we are then very 

 admirably shown that the red conglomerates at the base 

 of the mountain limestone in some places are the shore 

 deposits of the early part of the latter epoch. The 

 piece de resistance, however, of this portion of the book is 

 naturally the chapter which treats on the Carboniferous 

 period, in which also are to be found the chief novelties 

 due to the author. The lie and position of the great 

 masses which form the backbone of the country are 

 admirably given, and all the lately acquired information 

 is incorporated. The lists of fossils, however, from the 

 lower rocks, do not seem to have undergone much critical 

 revision, and remarkably few additions seem to be 

 recorded during the last thirty years. It is interesting to 



notice that, with respect to the lower coal measures, the 

 author states his conviction that " the tendency of all the 

 evidence in this part of the country is to show that the 

 Gannister series and the Millstone grits form one natural 

 division of the Carboniferous system," though he does not 

 go so far as Prof. Hull in classifying them together. A 

 valuable featui-e here is a set of comparative sections in 

 different districts in which the locally-named coal beds 

 are correlated, and which gives a very good idea of their 

 changes. Some of the most interesting features of the 

 Yorkshire coals, however, such as the convergence of 

 many seams into the Beeston coal and the peculiar cha- 

 racter of the Better bed coal, though mentioned, are 

 scarcely made enough of, but the fossils ^associated with 

 the latter have been very well worked at. The proof of 

 the unconformity of the permian limestones and the true 

 age of the picturesque Plimpton rocks, once associated 

 with them, is admirably given, and then this part of the 

 work concludes with an account of the superficial deposits, 

 glacial striaj, and the Victoria Cave. 



The second part, which, according to the preface, is 

 only the introductory chapter to the complete flora of the 

 Riding, to be produced in another volume, is more inte- 

 restingly written. The area under consideration is divided 

 into ten districts indicated on a map, and coinciding 

 with the drainage areas. In each of these the rela- 

 tion of the flora to the general physical characters is 

 pointed out, and lists of the most interesting plants found 

 in selected and naturally separate localities are given, 

 accompanied by remarks on the surrounding country. 

 In each we are taken to the head sources of the river 

 which runs through the district, and so pleasantly are we 

 led along its banks that we seem" to realise the several 

 beauties of the neighbourhood while we learn their cause, 

 and to collect all the interesting plants whose habitats 

 are so graphically described. Great care seems to have 

 been taken to exclude all doubtful statements, and to 

 show the cause of the occurrence of particular sets of 

 plants, where this is possible. It is therefore thoroughly 

 reliable, and from the scattered nature of the little that 

 had previously been done, contains more new matter 

 than is to be found in the first part. 



The book is accompanied by sixteen plates of geologi- 

 cal woodcuts, which are rough, and add but little to its 

 value. There are also five plates of coloured sections, 

 mostly founded on those of the Survey. 



We must certainly congratulate the authors on the 

 completion of their task, which has been carried out 

 in a creditable manner, and has resulted in a useful and 

 instructive book. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Flowers. By J. E. Taylor. (Hardwicke and Bogue.) 



This is a compilation in small octavo, illustrated with 

 many familiar woodcuts and coloured plates. A feature 

 is the index of 1,000 references. Very many of these, 

 being only to the merest mention of names, might have 

 been omitted in favour of a glossary of terms, and more 

 especially a list of works of reference. 



The principal aim throughout the book is to convey 

 that all the many adaptations of flowers to secure ferti- 

 lisation are due to a Divine Creator, and not thought out 

 by the plants themselves. The theory of Natural Select 

 tion is hardly alluded to. 



