March 8. 1900] 



NA TURE 



44f 



with astonishment, that Huxley's observations upon 

 Pyrosoma were " conducted upon thin sections (that is 

 to say, cut by hand with a razor, and not with a pair 

 of scissors) of a spirit specimen, rendered clear by 

 glycerine. ' 



When all this is borne in mind, we can but admire 

 the accuracy of the observations, taken as a whole, 

 which Huxley was able to make upon the anatomy and 

 development of this remarkable form of life ; while any 

 impulse we may feel to criticise an error with regard to 

 finer points of cytological detail will be checked by the 

 thought that if, in the short space of forty years, biology 

 can make such progress in the investigation of the most 

 mysterious of vital processes, what judgments may the 

 future not have in store for much of our work at the 

 present day, even within the lifetime of many of us ! 



We have said enough, we hope, to prove how much 

 interesting reading of the most varied kind is furnished 

 by the collected works of one of our greatest scientific 

 men, and we feel sure that many will look forward 

 with pleasurable anticipation to the continuance and 

 completion of this series. E. A. M. * 



SCENERY AND GEOLOGY. 

 The Scientific Study of Scenery. By John E. Marr, M.A., 

 F.R.S. Pp. xi + 368. (London : Methuen and Co., 

 1900.) 



SO much has been done within the last thirty years 

 in all parts of the world, and especially in America, 

 to discover and interpret the varied forms of earth- 

 sculpture, that the knowledge required to be summarised. 

 Scientific surveys and explorations, the facilities for 

 travel, and the use of the camera have largely con- 

 tributed towards the accumulation of facts. One result, 

 and by no means the most satisfactory one, is the in- 

 crease of technical terms, for which our American 

 brethren are largely responsible. To remember what is 

 the Uinta type of mountain folding ; what is meant by 

 consequent, subsequent and obsequent streams, by in- 

 consequent drainage and corrasion ; and what is the 

 difference between clouds of radiation, of inversion, of 

 interfret, and of inclination, may tax the memory and 

 patience of any one who is not constantly engaged in 

 teaching. Here Mr. Marr comes to the rescue, de- 

 scribing and explaining in clear language all the leading 

 types of scenery, and many of the minor and no less 

 interesting features connected with it. He discusses 

 the origin of hill and dale, of peneplain and nunatak, 

 butte and zeuge ; and, moreover, he gives in his work an 

 index which will enable us to dispel our ignorance or re- 

 fresh our memories when, as so often happens, we come 

 across an unfamiliar or forgotten term. There was need 

 for this concise handbook on the scientific study of 

 scenery. 



The author makes a praiseworthy attempt to please 

 two classes of readers— the student and the "general 

 reader." That his work will be appreciated by the 

 student we are fully persuaded. That the general 

 reader will steadily puruse the volume must depend 

 upon whether he or she reads for the sake of solid 

 instruction. 



NO. 1584, VOL. 61] 



The author's brief introduction is fascinating, but we 

 are plunged in the next chapter into "three envelopes," 

 the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, and into 

 a consideration of anticlines, synclines and monoclines, 

 and planes of foliation, cleavage and faulting : subjects 

 necessary for the proper understanding of various types 

 of scenery, but not readily dealt with in pleasing 

 language. Here and there throughout his book the 

 author enters into a little more detail than appears to be 

 required to explain the relation between rock-structure and 

 rock-texture and scenery ; and the general reader may find 

 it difficult to distinguish between the "Normal Fault" 

 and the " Monoclinal Fault " figured on p. 66. When, 

 however, the author speaks of his work as an " Intro- 

 ductory Treatise on Geomorphology," we feel not only 

 that he intends it mainly for serious study, but that he 

 has a very decided personal regard for technical terms. 

 He shows how dependent the scenery is on the structure 

 of the earth's crust, on the sculpturing agents, and on the 

 character of the climate. The colours of the sky, the 

 water and the rocks, the forms of cloud, and the in- 

 fluence of vegetation come in for appropriate notice in 

 diflferent parts of the volume. 



Continents and ocean-basins, crust-waves and specu- 

 lations on lines of uplift are duly considered, and so also 

 are mountains and valleys, escarpments, volcanoes, 

 deserts and plains, oceans and oceanic islands. The 

 author writes with evident enthusiasm for his subject ; 

 and whenever he is free from detail, the labours of the 

 conscientious reviewer become more pleasant. With 

 Kingsley he can speak with eloquence of the beauties of 

 the Fenland, and with Captain McMahon of the charms 

 of the desert. He records his sorrow at " the mutilation 

 of a district rich in natural beauty " by the operations 

 of mining or quarrying, when such works are not, as 

 was the case with the water-works of Thirlmere, ''justifi- 

 able on the ground of necessity." We remember to 

 have seen quarrying operations in the heart of the 

 Cheddar Cliffs, perhaps the finest inland cliffs in England, 

 and this is an instance where local rights should be 

 compulsorily purchased at the public expense. 



We are glad to find the author dealing, every now and 

 again, with the sentimental aspects of the subject. Hugh 

 Miller, jun., enlarged on such topics in his " Landscape 

 Geology'' (1891); while the more recreative aspects of 

 scenery are charmingly portrayed in the Badminton 

 volume on Mountaineering, by Mr. C. T. Dent. 



The work before us is illustrated by an admirable series 

 of plates, reproduced from photographs The High Force 

 of Teesdale and the Screes of Wastwater are fine ex- 

 amples ; while others, equally good, exhibit mountain 

 structure, glaciers and lakes. The origin of lakes is 

 varied, but the subject has given rise to much controversy 

 among geologists — a controversy mainly concentrated on 

 the question whether rock-basins of any magnitude have 

 been excavated by ice-action. On this subject Mr. Marr 

 has his doubts, and he says 



" that in order to prove that ice can excavate a basin, we 

 must show, first, that the actual rock basin exists ; and, 

 secondly, that it cannot have been formed in any other 

 way than by the erosive action of ice." 



The question is one which is under investigation at the 

 present time; but it may be observed that, in many a lake 



