200 



NA TURE 



[January i, 1901 



SCOTTISH GEOLOGY. 

 The Geology of Eastern Fife. By Sir Archibald Geikie, 



D.C.L., F.R.S. Memoirs of the Geological Survey, 



Scotland. Pp. xv + 421 ; with map, 12 plates and 



71 figures in the text. (Glasgow, 1902.) Price 8s. 

 T T is not given to every author of a Geological Survey 

 -L memoir to write an interesting as well as instructive 

 volume. Too little attention has been paid to style and 

 composition, while the necessity for recording many and 

 often dry facts has had a tendency to obscure the phil- 

 osophy of the subject in many of the official publications. 



When, however, as in the present instance, the inform- 

 ation is conveyed in a pleasant style and in well-chosen 

 language, we feel that the science is placed on a higher 

 level and that the task has been performed in no per- 

 functory spirit, but with the desire to make art a com- 

 panion of science. 



Sir Archibald Geikie has occupied much of his leisure 

 time since he retired from the Geological Survey in 

 writing a memoir on the geology of eastern Fife, which 

 may be regarded as a sequel to his " Geology of Central 

 and Western Fife and Kinross,' 1 published two years 

 ago. He conducts us now eastwards into a region per- 

 haps fuller of geologic interest. Composed mainly of 

 Old Red Sandstone and Carboniferous rocks, it is 

 diversified by the occurrence of contemporaneous erup- 

 tive rocks in both systems and by the further evidence of 

 later igneous action, probably for the most part of Permian 

 age, in numerous volcanic vents — necks or chimneys — 

 filled with tuff or agglomerate, and in sills and dykes of 

 dolerite and basalt. As the author points out, there is 

 hardly any other region in Britain where lessons in 

 practical geology could be better taught. On the coast, 

 the rocks have been dissected and washed clean and 

 bare by the tides, and they afford illustrations of stratifi- 

 cation, jointing, curvature, intrusion and other charac- 

 teristic structures of the earth's crust. Fossils in great 

 variety are found in many of the strata. The Old Red 

 Sandstone of Dura Den is a classic locality, one of the 

 chief repositories of the fishes such as Bothriolepis. 

 Phyllolepis and Holoptychius. In the Carboniferous 

 rocks, there are banks of corals and crinoids in the marine 

 limestones, shales with ostracods and bone-beds with fish- 

 remains in the estuarine strata, and plant remains with 

 erect and prostrate tree-trunks in the more distinctly 

 terrestrial deposits. A general list of all the fossils has 

 been drawn up by Mr. B. X. Peach, who acknowledges 

 the help received from several specialists. 



Workable coal has locally been found in the Calciferous 

 Sandstone Series, but the chief development of this 

 mineral is in the Carboniferous Limestone Series and in 

 the Coal-measures. Full particulars of these strata are 

 given. 



The author's attention is naturally attracted to the erup- 

 tive rocks, and more especially to those which have in- 

 vaded the Carboniferous strata. The sills form a remark- 

 able group ranging from a few inches to masses more than 

 100 feet thick that form prominent ranges of hills. They 

 are nearly all dolerites. The distinctive feature in the 

 geology of eastern Fife is, however, the series of volcanic 

 necks, of which about eighty have been observed ; and, 

 as the author remarks, 



NO. I 73 I, VOL. 6/] 



" they furnish an unrivalled body of material for the study 

 of phenomena in the structure of volcanoes which are 

 inaccessible at the active vents of to-day." 



They 



" mark the sites of former volcanic orifices by which 

 egress was obtained to the surface for highly heated 

 vapours, gases and other materials from the interior of 

 the earth." 



Notes on the petrography of the igneous rocks are con- 

 tributed by Dr. J. S. Flett and Mr. H. J. Seymour. 



Many other topics of interest are dealt with by the 

 author, such as the glaciation, as evidenced by the ice- 

 worn rock surfaces, the Boulder-clay and the Kames. The 

 raised beaches and submerged forests likewise claim at- 

 tention, and there is an instructive chapter on the latest 

 geological changes in which the famous Links of St. 

 Andrews and other places are duly described. 



The work is illustrated by a clearly printed geological 

 index map and numerous excellent pictorial views and 

 sections. 



ELEMENTARY MENSURATION. 



Elementary Plane and Solid Mensuration, for use in 

 Schools, Colleges and Technical Classes. By R. W. 

 Edwards, M.A. Pp. xxx + 304. (London : Edward 

 Arnold, 1902.) Price $s. bd. 



THIS book begins with an explanation of the nature 

 and use of logarithms, followed by that portion of 

 trigonometry which deals with a single angle and the 

 application thereto of logarithmic calculation. Then 

 comes a short chapter on calculations relating to paral- 

 lelograms, and this is followed by one on triangles, 

 wherein there is'such further development of trigonometry 

 as is required for the solution of triangles from the usual 

 data. After this, rectilinear figures are treated of in the 

 order of simplicity — trapeziums, regular polygons, &c. 

 We have then a very useful little chapter on similar 

 figures of various kinds, illustrated by a considerable 

 number of numerical examples, followed by one on 

 irregular rectilinear figures in general. Next follow 

 calculations relating to the circle, illustrated by nearly 

 ninety examples. Modern demands for the employment 

 of squared paper and graphic representation are satisfied 

 by a short chapter on graphs, and this leads to an ex- 

 position and application of Simpson's rule. After this 

 comes the treatment of solids in the order of simplicity, 

 and all the well-known rules are proved and illustrated 

 by numerous examples. No rule is given without the 

 proof, the author saying in his preface that 



"students of elementary mensuration are frequently 

 obliged to be content with a mere statement of the 

 rules employed and with working out examples on these 

 rules." 



This was, no doubt, true of treatises written thirty or 

 forty years ago, but it has ceased to be a true criticism 

 of recent works. The mensuration of solids concludes 

 with a long chapter on the sphere which will be a help to 

 the student in his study of spherical trigonometry. 



It will thus be seen that this book contains all that is 

 necessary for the ordinary work of the surveyor and the 

 engineer, and that, as regards the amount of knowledge 



