Gis 
19, 1872] 
s, than to the natives, who are not admired by Dana, 
r they evidently lead too carnal an existence, and care 
“little for poesy and the imagination. 
eS After explaining the origia of gypsum in som: of the 
"smaller completed atolls by evaporation of sea-water in 
the gradually drying lagoon, Dana describes some of the 
- guano deposits which collect on the coral limestone and 
_ saline mud, and mentions how these accidental additions 
with the stones and drift wood, explain many difficult 
geological and mineralogical problems, “ Some interest- 
ing pseudomorphs occur buried in the guano of Baker’s 
Island. Coral fragments of various species were found 
that had long been covered up under the deposit, and in 
some of which the carbonic acid had been almost entirely 
replaced by phosphoric acid. Onsuch I have found 70 
per cent. of phosphate of lime.” This is an interesting 
_ fact, especially when it is remembered that birds’ dung 
~ may have collected in all climates during many geologi- 
_ calages. The descrip.ion of the geographical distribu- 
_-tion of coral reefs is followed by a most interesting 
_ chapter on changes of level in the Pacific Ocean. The 
irregularity of the elevations and subsidences, even on 
confined areas, is admirably demonstrated. The forma- 
tion of compact white limestones, and of impure or argil- 
laceous limestones, and of beach or sand-drift rocks and 
oolitic limestones, is explained, but without reference to 
_ the admirable researches of Nelson, whose labours in the 
_ Bermudas are classical amongst European geologists. 
_ Then*there is a sweeping assertion that deep-sea lime- 
stones are seldom if ever made from coral island or reef 
_ débris, and that lands separated by a range of deep 
ocean cannot supply one another with material for rocks. 
The words “‘ deep sea” are now differently understood 
_ to what they were in the days when theoretical views of 
the depth took the place of the results of real measure- 
_ ments, so that it is necessary to assert that abyssal seas 
_ may prove such barriers. But research into the lithology 
of the Atlantic near the Azores distinguishes mineral 
matters which, in all probability, are of American origin ; 
and both in the Miocene deposits of the West Indies, 
and in those of the same age in Europe, there are proofs 
- of the enormous aggregation of coral dééris in deep lime- 
stones. Dana considers that the views, so ably put for- 
_ ward by Lyeli and many American geologists concerning 
_ the derivation of the sedimentary rocks of the Appala- 
_ chian strata from land tothe east—that is to say, to the 
area of the present Atlantic—are unsound, because the 
_ wreck of the hypothetical continent could not have passed 
along the floor of the deep intervening sea. He states 
_ that the Atlantic would get back all its own dirt—an ob- 
servation which would be trenchant enough, if geology 
_ did not prove the extraordinary distances to which sedi- 
_ ments were removed from their sources. 
The author is too keen a geologist not to notice this 
discrepancy in the size of the existing coral-limestone 
_ formations and those of the past, and he illustrates the 
_ possibility of considerable areas being now the seat of 
- coral-limestone deposits by quoting the geography of the 
Abrolhos banks. The coalescence of the coral banks in 
shallow seas whose currents were not sufficient to cut 
deep and wide channels would account for the wide- 
spread and continental limestones. 
_ An interesting notice of the occurrence of chalk ina 
NATURE 
I21I 
raised reef in Oahu, near Honolulu, but which contained no 
traces of Foraminifera, is succeeded by essays on oceanic 
temperature and oceanic coral island subsidence. The 
Gulfstream is stated to have had, from the Jurassic pe- 
riod in geological history onward, the same kind of influ- 
ence on the temperature of the North Atlantic Ocean 
which it now has; and the British oolitic reefs are quoted 
as substantiating this assertion. Certainly during the Mio- 
cene the isthmus of Panama was under water, and vast 
tracts of the north of South America, and of the south of 
North America, and therefore the existence of a Gulf 
stream at that time may be doubted. Then there were 
stupendous reefs in the Italian and Austrian area, and 
the influence of anything like a Gulf stream would have 
had no effect upon them. 
After noticing that coral islands are evidences of buried 
lands, Dana insists that “we are far from establishing 
that these lands were oceanic continents. For as the 
author has elsewhere shown, the profoundest facts in the 
earth’s history prove that the oceans have always been 
oceans.” This dictum is constantly in the mouths of 
some geologists, and its value may be appreciated by the 
remembrance that the existing continents are mainly 
composed of old sea, deep sea,and abyssal floors, and that 
very probably there has always been a comparatively ex- 
act relation between the amount of land and sea on the 
earth’s surface. Moreover, there are very strong reasons 
for believing in a former Atlantis, and in a continent or 
a series of great islands between South America and New 
Zealand. 
The illustrations of the book are numerous, and some of 
them are very correct representations of nature. The 
group of Caryophillize in page 42 is excellent, but British 
aquarium-keepers will hardly recognise the well-known 
Carophyllia Smithii on page 67. Many of the white etch- 
ings on the black ground are beautifully executed, and 
copies of them will make excellent diagrams, 
Pos, De 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Lird-Life. By Dr. A. E. Brehm. Translated from the 
German by H. M. Labouchere, F.Z.S., and W. Jesse, 
C.M.Z.S. Parts iv. and v., 1872. (London: Van 
Voorst.) 
THIs is a translation of a work well known in Germany, 
where it has attained great and in some respects merited 
success. “Das Leben der Vogel” is the production of 
one of a talented family, who have done much to popu- 
larise several branches of natural history, We do not 
say that it was not worth translation, but we do affirm 
that the translation is not worth half-a-crown a number— 
the price at which it is issued in this country—even when 
the value of Mr. Keuleman’s nicely tinted lithographs is 
taken into account The idea of Brehm’s book is to give 
a popular account of the way birds pass their lives in 
general and on particular occasions In the parts of the 
translation now before us the chapters relate to the 
“every-day-life,” “ courtship and marriage,” “ nest-build- 
ing,” and “ migration” of birds. These are all described 
nicely enough, the author being an excellent field natu- 
ralist, and w.th sufficient accuracy, though in a very de- 
sultory manner. Anecdotes are often given from other 
authors, and stories from Dr. Brehm’s personal experience, 
which has been extensive. But the work is a mere sketch 
of a history which it would occupy many volumes to 
