178 Bihliographical Notices. 



(vol. ii. p. 147) in the foUowing numbers, expressing approximately 

 the temperature of the Miocene districts : — 



A. In the Earlier Miocene Epoch. 



° Cent. ° Fahr. 



1. Upper Italy (at 250 feet above the sea) 



had a mean annual temperature of .. 22 71 "6 



2. Switzerland 20-5 69 



3. The basin of the Lower Ehine 18 64-4 



4. The vicinity of Dantzig 17 62-6 



5. Spitzbergen (78° N. lat.) 8 46-4 



B. In the Later Miocene Epoch. 



1. Sinigaglia 21 69-8 



2. Upper Italy 20 68 



3. Switzerland 18-5 65-3 



4. Silesia (Schossnitz) 15 59 



The Quaternary Period (newer than the Pliocene, which is not 

 represented in Switzerland) has left the lignites of Diirnten and 

 Utznach, formed after the Miocene strata had been tilted up with 

 the flanks of the Alps. Their flora and fauna approximate closely 

 to the groups now living ; but the Elephant and Rhinoceros were 

 inhabitants of Europe. Glacial sands, gravels, and blocks lie over 

 the lignites, and lead us direct to such natural-history and physical 

 conditions as now rule in the highest Alps. The chapter on 

 " Glacial History " well describes these phenomena, and connects 

 them with the hypothetical history of the great interval between the 

 Quaternary Period and our own day. 



Chapters XIY. and XV. conclude M. Heer's work with (1) a brief 

 view of the succession of periods and their life-groups ; (2) of the 

 possible causes of the upheaval and depression of land during per- 

 haps incalculable time ; (3) of the results of these movements, as 

 shown by Switzerland, both in the formation of strata and in the 

 conditions of the surface as eroded by water, ice, and weather ; (4) 

 of the possible course of nature in "the remoulding of species," 

 with regard to which, the author remarks, we are still in the dark, 

 and which he does not consider the Darwinian theory competent to 

 explain *. 



Thus, with great skill and in a pleasant style, has the Rev. Dr. 0. 

 Heer epitomized the geological history of Switzerland, and much of 

 Europe at the same time, keeping before us the great features of 



* The editor has appended, pp. 295-302, Prof. Riitimeyer's description 

 (with woodcut) of a group of pointed sticks and wattle or basketwork, 

 found in an Interglacial lignite at Wetzikon, and regarded as the handi- 

 work of primaeval man, He has also given, p. 3()3, a comparison of 

 English and Continental measures, weights, and thermometric scales, for 

 the use of the student. 



