DeEcEMBER 3, 1896] 
NALURE 
103 
cinctly and pleasantly told. There is some history and 
some science, but not too much for the ordinary tourist. 
Alpine geology, of course, is not forgotten ; but here, as 
the author has had to rely on the work of others, the state- 
ments sometimes are open to question. The following may 
be taken as an example: ‘“ Wie am Spltigen durchsetz 
auch am Bernhardin die Trias das Urgebirge des Haupt- 
kammes.” But the infolds in the gneissic #zasszf on these 
two passes are crystalline rocks, varying usually from 
marble to darkish cale-mica schists. They are identical 
with rocks which elsewhere are indubitably very much 
older than the Trias, and are about as unlike as they can 
be to any rock which can be proved to belong to this 
system. In fact their Triassic age is only a “pious 
pinion,” and, like many such, has no scientific found- 
ation. But the Swiss geological surveyors have not 
distinguished themselves in the district of the Hinter 
and Vorder Rhein. 
The illustrations are numerous and varied ; sketches 
ally too prominent, the pictures are remarkably good, 
and exceed in quantity and quality what we should get 
in a book of similar price “ made in England.” It forms 
a very agreeable souvenir of the Alps, for its pages will 
recall pleasant memories to every tourist. So attractive 
indeed is it, both in illustrations and in text, that we 
hope the publishers will have it translated, for an English 
edition ought to find many purchasers in this country. 
In his book on Chamonix Mr. Whymper has endeavoured, 
as he says, “to give in a small compass information 
which some may desire to have at home, and that others 
will wish for on the spot.” Thus, while it contains all 
that is usual in a guide-book, it gives a good deal more, 
so that some of the chapters are very interesting reading. 
One, for instance, is devoted to the early history of 
Chamonix and Mont Blanc; the one, as we learn from 
the information which Mr. Whymper has obtained, can 
be traced back almost for eight centuries, while the other 
Fic. 2.—The “ Aiguille Verte and the Aigu]’e du Dru.” 
of characteristic incidents of travel, such as scenes in an 
hotel, at the station of a mountain railway, in a market- 
_ place orata /é/e ; views by the wayside, groups of chalets, 
or bits of old architecture, churches, castles, villages, or 
towns. With these are numerous examples of Alpine 
scenery, ranging from some little wayside nook to one 
of the snowy giants of the chain. Many of the former 
are admirably done; the latter (the scenery) are more 
unequal. Some, such as the full-page view of the 
Matterhorn (by Mr. Compton), are very effective, but in 
others the artist has failed to catch the character of the 
rocks, and they are merely conventional. Another fault 
may be noticed, which is becoming too prominent in 
modern sketches—namely, a tricky disposal of the lights 
and shadows, which produces a “splashy” effect, and an 
_ €xaggeration of the features of the scenery, so that nature 
is caricatured rather than depicted. Still, though the 
style which illustrated journals have fostered is occasion- 
NO. I414, VOL. 55] 
appears not to have acquired its distinctive name until 
the earlier part of the lastcentury. We read in his pages 
the tale of the first attempts to ascend the mountain, of 
Jacques Balmat’s success in discovering the route to the 
summit, of H. B. de Saussure’s ascent, and of some of 
the more interesting of those accomplished by later 
travellers. Next comes a “chapter of accidents,” giving 
a brief outline of those numerous catastrophes which 
associate the mountain with so many sad memories. 
Then follows an account of the attempts to use it for 
scientific purposes; and the remainder of the book is 
occupied by descriptions of the means of approaching 
Chamonix, of the modern village—or town, as now it 
might almost be called—of the various excursions from 
Chamonix or the immediate neighbourhood, both small 
and great, of the different routes to the summit of Mont 
Blanc, and, lastly, of the “tour” of the mountain. Need- 
less to say that the book is well des’gned and well 
