June 19, 1879] 



NATURE 



\6f 



author advertise himself as the aiitltor of "Electric 

 Lighting," which is the title— if we are not mistaken— of 

 his translation of Fontaine' s well-known work ? 



SiLVANUs P. Thompson 



THE DOLOMITE REEFS OF THE SOUTHERN 

 TYROL AND VENETIA 



Die Dolomit-Rije von Siid-Tirol und Venetien. Beitrdge 

 sur Bildungsgeschichte der Alpen. Von Edmund 

 Mojsisovics von Mojsv^r. Pp. 552, with 30 Photo- 

 graphic Plates, 1 10 Woodcuts, and an Atlas in 6 sheets. 

 (Vienna: Holder, 1879.) 



THERE are few districts in Europe which have 

 attracted so much attention from geologists as that 

 which is described in the splendid monograph now lying 

 before us. Whether we consider the richness and variety 

 of the palaeontological treasures yielded by the world- 

 famed deposits of St. Cassian, the wonderfully- dissected 

 volcanic centres of Monzoni and Predazzo, or the remark- 

 able illustrations of the action of denuding forces still at 

 work in the Alpine regions, as illustrated by the pic- 

 turesque ruin-like masses of the dolomitic limestones and 

 the singular earth-pillars of Botzen, the area must be 

 admitted to be worthy of the celebrity which it enjoys 

 among the cultivators of all branches of geological 

 science. 



The author of the present work possesses a remarkable 

 combination of the qualifications necessary for the suc- 

 cessful accomplishment of the task he has set himself. A 

 daring Alpine climber, he has explored the most inac- 

 cessible recesses of the district during the summer months, 

 while his winters have been devoted to the study 

 of the grand assemblage of fossil-forms which he has 

 brought together with such untiring industry. The 

 manner in which Dr. Mojsisovics is performing this task 

 of describing the enormous series of fossils of the Alpine 

 Trias — an assemblage of forms possessing so many features 

 of interest on account of the remarkable admixture of 

 Palaeozoic and Mesozoic types which it presents — is 

 familiar to all palaeontologists. He has shown that at 

 Hallstadt and St. Cassian respectively we have evidences 

 of the existence of two distinct hfe-provinces in the 

 Triassic seas, and his monographs on the cephalopods of 

 these two life-provinces, the first instalments of which 

 have already appeared, hare excited the greatest interest 

 among naturalists, who were scarcely prepared even by the 

 writings of von Hauer and other illustrators of the fauna 

 of the Alpine Trias, for the new and remarkable varieties 

 of the Ammonite type, now brought to light by the author 

 of this work. The current number of the Verhandlungen 

 der k. k. geologischen Reiclisanstalt, of Vienna, contains an 

 interesting summary of this new work, and shows that no 

 less than thirty two Ammonite genera have up to the 

 present time been recognised in the Alpine Trias, of 

 which thirteen are peculiar to the northern life-province, 

 five are restricted to the southern life-province, while 

 fourteen are common to both. Although Dr. Mojsisovics's 

 work has, up to the present time, been confined to the 

 Cephalopoda, yet we anticipate results of scarcely less 

 interest when he arrives at the examination of the 

 Gasteropoda and the other classes of fossils obtained 

 from the Alpine Trias. 



The work before us is in great part the result of the 

 investigation of the Austrian Geological Survey, carried 

 on under the direction of Franz von Hauer, and much of 

 the detailed examination of certain of the districts de- 

 scribed was accomplished by two of the author's former 

 colleagues Dr. Hoernes and Dr. Doelter ; the account of 

 the volcanic and granitic rocks is indeed almost entirely 

 supplied by the latter geologist, who is so well known for his 

 skill in micropetrographic researches. The most important 

 part of the work, however, is that which is devoted to the 

 description of the several Mesozoic formations of this 

 Alpine area, and to a discussion of the important facts 

 concerning the former physical geography of the region, 

 and the distribution of life-forms within it— questions 

 which the author is so well qualified by his long study of 

 the subject to treat of. 



As a consequence of the representations made to the 

 Academy of Sciences of Vienna by von Hauer, Suess, and 

 Hochstetter, a special gr.-'.nt of money was made to aid 

 the author in the publication of this valuable monograph, 

 and no expense has been spared to make both the book 

 itself and the atlas which accompanies it, of the greatest 

 possible value. In these respects the work resembles the 

 publications of the American Geological Surveys much 

 more than those of our own country. 



The atlas contains six sheets, comprising an area of 

 about 3,000 square miles, and is constructed on a scale 

 of y^g, or about \ of an inch to an English mile. The 

 foundation of the map is, for the southern or Italian part, 

 the old general map of the Austro- Hungarian Empire on 

 the same scale, and for the Tyrolese area the new 

 military map of Austria on a scale of 5-50077, which has 

 been reduced by photography. The geological colouring 

 is admirably printed, and although between forty and fifty 

 different tints have been employed to indicate the numerous 

 subdivisions adopted by the author, this is accomplished 

 without creating confusion, or obscuring the topographical 

 details of the map. The district comprised in it includes 

 the country lying between the Adige and the Piave, from 

 Toblach, on the north, to Feltre, on the south, the larger 

 portion of which is included in the Austrian Tyrol, but 

 a considerable area in the south-west now belongs to the 

 Italian monarchy. 



The memoir itself is illustrated by thirty reproductions 

 of photographs taken either by the author himself or by 

 Egger of Lintz, the points of view in the latter cases 

 having been chosen by Dr. Hoernes. These views give 

 an excellent idea of the remarkable natural features pre- 

 sented by this very interesting district, the now famous 

 " Dolomite Mountains." In addition to these views and 

 the very numerous woodcut sections, there is also a series 

 of maps illustrating the areas of the old coral reefs and 

 the lines of disturbance traversing the district. 



The first or introductory part of the memoir, consisting 

 of four chapters, gives a general sketch of the geology of 

 the district and of the physical features of the Southern 

 Tyrol. The second part (Chapters V.-XV.) is devoted 

 to a detailed description of the geological structure of the 

 several districts, while the third and concluding part 

 (Chapters XVI. and XVII.) deal with theoretical ques- 

 tions of great interest to geologists at the present time, 

 namely, the reef-theory of von Richthofen and the origin 

 and mode of formation of mountain chains. We regret 



