Skptembkr, 1911. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



369 



a good many suggestions from the book, which is ilhistrated 

 by numerous line drawings, and many familiar photographs 

 by Messrs. Charles Reid, Henry Irving and Douglas English. 



\V. M W. 

 GEOLOGY. 



-By J. P. JoHXSOx. 

 interleaved. 



Price 8 6 net.) 



The Mineral Indnstry of Rliodcsia- 

 90 pages. 1 plate. 9-in. X 6-in. 



(Longmans, Green & Co. 



This is an account of the present stage of development of 

 the Rhode.sian mining industry. Gold is. of course, the most 

 important mineral, and 609,950 ounces of the value of 

 ;t'2, 568,200 were mined in 

 1910. A brief account of 

 all the principal producing 

 and developing mines in 

 1910is given, with notes on 

 the mode of occurrence of 

 the gold. It is every- 

 where found near the 

 contact of the basement 

 granite with the sedimen- 

 tary and other rocks into 

 which it intrudes. Whilst 

 gold is the mainstaj- of the 

 mining industry, many of 

 the other metals are be- 

 coming increasingly im- 

 portant, and the geology 

 indicates great future 

 possibilities for them. 

 Many n o n - m e t a 1 li c 

 minerals are also mined, 

 including diamonds and 

 coal. An excellent chap- 

 ter on hints to prospectors 

 concludes the book, which 

 should prove valuable 

 both to the men on 

 the spot, and those other- 

 wise interested in the rich 



Tremadoc Beds near Criccieth. 



Notice the curved strata and the marine denudation along 

 bedding and joint planes. 



mineral industrv 



of Rhodesia. 



(;. \V. T. 



Field Note Book of Geological Illustrations.— By Hilda 



D. Sharpi:. 51 pages. 86 photographs and 2 maps. 



9-in. X 6-in.. interleaved. 



(Manchester : Flatters & Garnett. Price .5 - net.) 



This book consists entirely of photographs intended to 

 illustrate the geological features seen by students during 

 excursions or when on holiday, and to assist them to recognise 

 in the field the facts which have been discussed in class. 

 Each photograph is accompanied by a short descriptive note, 

 and while most of them will doubtless be illustrative to the 

 student, there are a few, such as the " Wyche Cutting, 

 Malvern," which convey little or no geological information. 

 Some others have either been poor photographs or have 

 suffered in reproduction. The book is interleaved and is 

 provided with a number of blank pages at the end for notes 

 or for the insertion of photographs. G. \V. T. 



Pebbles.— By E. J. Dunx. F.G.S. 198 pages. 76 plates. 



9-in. X 6-in. 



(Melbourne: G. Robertson & Co.) 



The Director of the Geological Survey of \'ictoria has made 

 good use of the fund presented to him along with the 

 Murchison Medal by the Geological Society in producing this 

 interesting book. He discusses exhaustively the form, 

 material, shaping and transport of pebbles, and illustrates their 

 endless varieties in seventy-six beautiful plates containing two 

 hundred and fifty figures. Pebbles form an intermediate stage 

 between boulders riven by various agencies from their parent 

 rock, and the sand or mud to which they are ultimately 

 reduced. Their story, as told by Mr. Dunn, is a veritable 

 romance of science. The first seven plates illustrate the 

 history of pebbles as they pass from angular boulders, through 



sub-.angular and rounded pebbles, to fine sand, in a most 

 graphic manner. A final chapter is devoted to the uses of 

 pebbles by man as tools, weapons, sinkers, w-eights and sacred 

 objects. G. W. T. 



PHILOSOPHY. 



Creative Evolution. — By Hexri Bergsox. Authorized 



translation by .\rthiir Mitchell, Ph.D. 425 pages. 



S!,'-in. X 5i-in. 



(Macmillan & Co. Price 10- net. I 



Professor Bergson's philosophy is well deserving of the very 

 widespread interest that it has aroused. One can say this 



without necessarily agree- 

 ing with his views. For 

 what Bergson has to 

 advance are really new 

 ideas ; and if new ideas 

 are not always true ideas, 

 they are always valuable 

 as stimulants to thought. 

 In the present case, more- 

 over, it can hardly be 

 denied that there is a 

 large element of truth 

 in Bergson's arguments, 

 and that he puts forward 

 a new way of viewing the 

 problems of life and 

 philosophy, which in itself 

 is both valuable and 

 useful ; add to this a 

 style which almost per- 

 suades one against one's 

 will even where views 

 ,,.,■... the most novel are 

 advanced. In parenthesis, 

 let us further add that 

 t'^e the work of translation 

 appears to have been 

 done in a most careful 

 and satisfactory manner. Professor Bergson himself having 

 re\ised the whole work. 



Reality, so we understand Bergson, is Becoming. Concrete 

 time is the stuff of reality ; reality creates itself gradually, 

 fundamentally it is absolute duration. Life transcends 

 intellect, and thus it is only by the synthesis of intellect with 

 instinct, or intuition, the two end products of the evolution of 

 life in opposite directions, that a true philosophy of life is 

 forthcoming. Life is the outcome of an impetus given once 

 and for all ; it is free and thus creates as it evolves. 

 Materiality and intellectuality are the results of the inverse 

 movement to that which is life. Both radical mechanism and 

 radical finalism are erroneous, but the former more 

 emphatically so than the latter. Bergson's arguments are 

 splendid ; but we doubt whether he has really proved that 

 concrete time is fundamental reality, the creative force in 

 evolution ; and if time be not this, but merely a way we have 

 of regarding phenomena — in a word, a mode of consciousness 

 — Bergson's arguments against finalism will not stand. More- 

 over, it is difficult to conceive of life as the result of an impetus 

 given once and for all. Not only do we ask, whence derived r 

 but why given then and not at some other time ? Was this 

 the beginning of time, or if not, what sort of time preceded it ? 

 The difficulties are largely removed if one considers life as, in 

 its origin, transcending time, but in its manifestations 

 contemporary with infinite time. 



The confines of a necessarily brief review do not permit of 

 even a satisfactory outline of Bergson's philosophy, so many 

 new ideas and ways of thinking does it contain ; still less, then, 

 do they permit of any adequate criticism of this system. 

 All we have attempted above is to present some of its salient 

 features. In conclusion, let us say that all those who desire 

 to keep abreast of modern thought will certainly read this 

 book, and will do so with interest .and enjoyment. 



H. S. Redgrove. 



