NATURE 



45 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1899. 



THE HISTORY OF GEOLOGY. 

 Gisc/iichte der Geologie unci Paldontologie bis Ende des 

 \c).Jahrhurtderts. Von Karl Alfred v. Zittel. Pp. 

 xi + 868. (Miinchen und Leipzig : Druck und Verlag 

 von R. Oldenbourg, 1899.) 



WHEN the illustrious author of the " Handbuch der 

 Pal.xontologie " undertook to write this history 

 of geology and paL-vontology, he entered upon no light 

 task, for special difificulties must attend the labours of 

 any author who, in bringing together material to illus- 

 trate completely the rise and development of these wide- 

 embracing sciences, would produce a volume acceptable 

 to professionals and laymen alike. For such a task as 

 this Prof. Zittel, by his wide scholarship and long ex- 

 perience as a teacher, no less than by his acquaintance 

 with an abundant special literature and his proficiency 

 as a linguist, is eminently qualified ; and the work before 

 us amply shows those evidences of patience, thorough- 

 ness, and indefatigable zeal, which have characterised 

 the previous literary undertakings of its author. Some 

 idea of the labour involved in the preparation of this 

 volume may be gained from the fact that upwards of 

 2000 authors receive mention in its pages : it may be 

 doubted indeed whether a single writer whose work has 

 ■had important bearing on the development of geology in 

 its various branches has been overlooked, while many, 

 the significance of whose labours is unquestionably small, 

 are here accorded recognition. As stated in the author's 

 prefatory remarks, the original scope of the work, which 

 was primarily intended to comprise a history of geology 

 in Germany, was subsequently extended, in accordance 

 with the necessity of treating from a wider standpoint 

 the development and progress of a study to the growth 

 of which all civilised nations have contributed. 



The difficulties of expediently arranging so vast an 

 amount of material as that embodied in this work have 

 been perhaps most aptly met by the general plan, 

 chronological and categorical, here adopted. The book 

 is divided into four main sections, each dealing with a 

 given period in the history of the science ; and while 

 these periods are of very unequal length, their limits have 

 been so chosen that the mass of detail dealt with under 

 more special headings may be advantageously grouped, 

 thus enabling the reader to obtain the more readily a 

 connected idea of the successive advances made in the 

 study of the subject in its various departments. 



The first section, comprising only a few pages, is 

 principally devoted to the works of the ancient Greeks 

 and Romans, and it is clearly shown in what small degree 

 the labours of these early writers have furnished sound 

 foundation for the development of geology in later times. 

 In a short introduction to the second section the author 

 points plainly to those causes which for so many years 

 effectually retarded the progress of scientific thought and 

 discovery, and gave rise to that intellectual lethargy 

 which only became dissipated at the close of the middle 

 ages. The early opinions regarding the nature of fossils, 

 the origin and history of the earth, and the phenomena 

 NO, 1572, VOL. 61] 



of volcanoes and earthquakes, are then successively dis- 

 cussed ; and it may be well to indicate here the method 

 adopted by the author in dealing with the work of the 

 numerous observers and writers in these various branches 

 of the subject, for the manner of treatment here employed 

 is more or less closely adhered to throughout the suc- 

 ceeding portions of the book. For the most part under 

 special sub-headings, the work of successive contributors 

 to the science, when the names of these are deserving of 

 more than mere mention, is concisely and impartially 

 summarised, and numerous useful biographical footnotes 

 have been appended. In many cases criticism is totally 

 withheld, and the treatment of the material is in great 

 measure purely objective. In illustration of the thorough- 

 ness and impartiality with which the author has carried 

 out his work, we note the space accorded in this second 

 period not only to writers such as Steno, Lehmann, 

 Fiichsel and Guettard, whose work has marked important 

 points of progress in these earlier days of geological 

 science, but also to others— for example, Fallopio, Burnet 

 and Justi — whose almost valueless efforts consisted so 

 largely in the proposal of wildly fantastic theories. 



The third section, under the happily chosen title " Das 

 heroische Zeitalter der Geologie von 1790 bis 1820," 

 deals with a period which was witness of such remark- 

 able activity in the study of geology ; a period during 

 which, indeed, the foundations of the science as we 

 know it to-day may be said to have been laid. Here 

 are to be found some of the most fascinating pages in 

 the book, and the sketches of Saussure, Werner, v. Buch 

 and Humboldt may be cited as examples of apt and 

 terse delineation. But in a work of such wide scope as 

 the one before us, brevity must of necessity characterise 

 the condensed accounts in which are set forth the achieve- 

 ments of these and of other men whose influence has 

 left its indelible mark in the onward march of the science, 

 and we must not look for that degree of fulness and 

 literary embellishment to be found in works of narrower 

 limits, as, for example, in the admirable sketches fur- 

 nished by Sir Archibald Geikie in his " Founders of 

 Geology." If, in Prof. Zittel's account of Werner and 

 his work, we perceive a certain reluctance to estimate at 

 its true value the detrimental effect produced for a time 

 by the hotly promulgated and falsely based theories of 

 that influential teacher, we speedily find compensation in 

 the eulogistic narratives of Hutton and Playfair, whose 

 philosophical ideas were so effectually opposed to the 

 baneful dogmatism of the Freiberg school. 



The development of stratigraphy during this period is 

 dealt with at considerable length, and the progress made 

 in each country receives separate treatment. Prominent 

 amongst the many workers whose labours here find 

 ample record are Freiesleben, v. Buch, Ebel, Brongniart, 

 Cuvier and William Smith. The early development of 

 petrography is then traced, and the views held respec- 

 tively by the neptunists, vulcanists and plutonists are 

 briefly discussed. In following the progress of palaeon- 

 tology during this time, the author first draws attention 

 to works of a more general character, such as those of 

 Schlotheim, Defrance and Parkinson, and then proceeds 

 to indicate the advances made by the publication of more 

 special work confined to the consideration of single classes 



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