April 20, 1S93 



NA TURE 



579 



tionate amount of space given to some foreign equivalents. 

 It is when we come to the Tertiary strata, however, that 

 we are most painfully impressed by the inadequacy of the 

 treatment of some very essential matters. The British 

 t enes have about half a page devoted to them ; there 

 no mention of the Hampshire Basin as distinct from 

 that of London ; and the table of strata given is neither 

 that of one basin nor the other, but an awkward combina- 

 tion of beds from both. The English Oligocene is dis- 

 missed in about a dozen lines, and no mention is made of 

 ihe rich and varied marine fauna of the New Forest. 

 About the same amount of space is devoted to the Pliocene 

 of East Anglia (that of the South Downs and Cornwall 

 not being even mentioned), while the highly-developed 

 Pliocene of Belgium has assigned to it only a single line. 

 We make these remarks, not with any desire to find 

 fault, but in order to call the author's attention to the 

 fact that, in its present state, the work would be almost 

 U5ele-;s to an English student, unless he used it in con- 

 junction with another geological te\t-book, in which the 

 British formations had received more adequate treatment. 

 If the more vigorous editing, which has made the first 

 part of this book so excellent, were applied to the latter 

 half of the volume, we should then have an almost perfect 

 work, and one which would find a place in every scientific 

 library. 



With all its faults, however, we have a text-book of 

 stratigraphical geology which is superior to all its prede- 

 cessors in respect to its illustrations, and its thorough- 

 ness. The copious index is of the greatest value, though 

 the work would be improved by some additions to the 

 references and the substitution in all cases of citations 

 of original memoirs in the place of wjrks giving infor- 

 mation at second hand. 



The plan of treatment of the several geological systems 

 is excellent. The historical account of the establishment 

 of the particular division and grouping of the strata is 

 followed by sketches of the development of the system in 

 the chief European areas, concluding in certain cases with 

 shorter notices of some of the extra-European equivalents. 

 This account of the stratigraphy of the system is followed 

 by an admirable sketch of its palaeontology. 



There are two portions of the book which, to make the 

 work suitable as a manual for English students, require 

 to be greatly modified, if not altogether rewritten. These 

 are the chapters relating to the Archaean and the 

 " Diluvium " respectively. We can readily understand 

 that the editor would shrink from so drastic a remedy as 

 we suggest, and yet the views expressed in the book before 

 us, upon the oldest and youngest of the formations re- 

 spectively, are so entirely at variance with those which the 

 beginner is likely to hear from any recognised teacher of 

 geology in this country, that it is scarcely fair to students 

 to allow them to stand in their present form. In the same 

 way the uncompromising statements concerning the 

 difference between the eruptive rocks associated with the 

 tertiary and those of older geological epochs require 

 serious qualification. If the editor felt that he could not, 

 in fairness to the original author, make the necessary 

 omissions or alterations in the text, he might have ap- 

 pended notes in which the attention of the student is called 

 to statements that are at variance with the instruction he 

 would ordinarily receive in this country. 

 c<0. 1225, VOL. 47] 



Although we have felt it to be our duty to call attention 

 to certain imperfections and blemishes in this book, we 

 must repeat our verdict concerning its general excellence, 

 and the hope that an opportunity will soon be afforded 

 to its editor of preparing a second edition, in which these 

 imperfections and blemishes may be removed. 



THE BALTIC SHIP-CANAL. 



Der Nord-Ostsee-Kanal. Von C. Beseke. (Kiel and 

 Leipsic : Lipsius and Tischer, 1893.) 



FOREMOST among the engineering works of the 

 latter part of the nineteenth century must assuredly 

 be placed the magnificent maritime canals, v/hich afford 

 such conspicuous evidence of industrial skill and enter- 

 prise ; and of these great works few will yield in point of 

 size and importance to the new sea-way between the North 

 Sea and the Baltic, the history and progress of which 

 is so ably described by Herr Beseke in the present 

 volume. 



The idea of such a canal has been under consideration 

 for five centuries, and one of the most interesting chapters 

 in the book is that which enumerates no less than sixteen 

 schemes which have from time to time been propounded 

 for the accomplishment of this difficult problem. These 

 different projects are rendered all the more intelligible 

 by means of a sketch-map, indicating the various lines 

 proposed, the majority of which, having their origin in 

 the estuary of the Elbe, passed transversely across the 

 Schleswig-Holstein peninsula to points in the vicinity of 

 Kiel or Liibeck. 



The inception of the present undertaking dates from 

 October 19, 1883, when the Chancellor of State was 

 directed by Imperial rescript to report upon the execution 

 of a canal from Kiel to the mouth of the Elbe. The plans, 

 prepared in conformity with this decree, were adopted, 

 with trifling modifications, on March 16, 1886, the 

 execution of the works being entrusted to a State Com - 

 mission in July of the same vear, and the first stone was 

 laid by the Emperor William I. with an imposing cere- 

 mony on June 3, 1887. 



The total length of the projected canal is about 61 

 English miles, the width at the water-line is 197 feet, and 

 at the bottom, at the toe of the slopes, 72 feet ; the total 

 depth is nearly 28 feet. It is shown by means of a diagram 

 that not only will two of the largest Baltic merchan t 

 vessels pass one another without difficulty, but also that 

 there is room for a vessel of this type to give way to one 

 of the finest ironclads of the German navy, such as the 

 Konig Wilhelm, with a displacement of 9757 tons. 

 Sp2cial passing stations have, however, also been ar- 

 ranged at intervals, similar to those on the Suez Canal. 



The cost of the works was originally estimated at 

 ^7,800,000, which provides for 77,400,000 cubic metres 

 of excavation, and all requisite contractors' plant and 

 materials, entrance locks, bridges, and harbour works, as 

 also for the forts needed to protect the western approach 

 to the canal. 



A most curious chapter is that which deals with the 

 provision made for the conduct of the enterprise, and for 

 the housing and accommodation of the large staff of 

 workpeople engaged therein. The sub-contractors for 



