ee 
NATURE 
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1917. 
GEOLOGY AND SCENERY OF THE LAKE 
DISTRICT. 
The Geology of the Lake District and the Scenery 
- as Influenced by Geological Structure. By Dr. 
J. E. Marr. Pp. xii+220. (Cambridge: At 
the University Press, 1916.) Price 12s. net. 
ie since the days of Jonathan Otley and 
of Sedgwick the Lake District has attracted 
much attention from geologists, largely on account 
of the variety and difficulty of the problems that 
it presents. As is well known, Dr. Marr has 
devoted a very large part of his life to the study 
of these problems, and the present volume con- 
tains an admirable summary of the results ob- 
tained by his predecessors, by his contemporaries, 
and by himself in this field. Although compara- 
tively small when measured in square miles, there 
is, perhaps, no other well-defined area where so 
much variety of topography and of geological 
structure is to be found, or where the connection 
between geology and scenery is so clearly marked. 
On this latter feature the author rightly lays 
much stress, pointing out that each formation 
gives rise to its own particular type of scenery, 
easily distinguishable even in the distant view. 
The arrangement of the book is historical. 
Beginning with the oldest known rocks, a clear 
and connected account is given of the origin and 
characters of each formation, and also of the 
events that occurred during the intervals when no 
deposition was in progress. The chapters dealing 
with the periods of non-deposition are in some 
ways the most interesting sections of the book, 
as they give more scope for originality and 
speculation. Even yet there remain problems 
among the older rocks still awaiting a final solu- 
tion; perhaps the most important and the most 
difficult of these is the question of the true age 
and tectonic relationships of the Borrowdale vol- 
canic series. The similarity of these rocks to the 
Charnian volcanics was long ago noted by Prof. 
Lapworth, who suggested that they may possibly 
be of pre-Cambrian age, owing their present posi- 
tion above the Skiddaw Slates to overthrusting. 
As a result of the researches of Dr. Marr and 
Mr. Harker, and the more recent work of Mr. 
J. F. N. Green, the balance of evidence seems to 
show that they are in reality, as they appear to 
be, of Llandeilo age; the. question may eventually 
be settled by a study of the graptolites of the 
uppermost Skiddaw Slates. Should these be 
found to contain, as is possible, a Glenkiln fauna, 
a place would have to be found for the Borrow- 
dales elsewhere, since the overlying Coniston 
Limestone Series is undoubtedly of Carodocian 
age. The relationship of the Eycott lavas to the 
Borrowdales and to the Carboniferous rocks 
which immediately follow them also offers an in- 
teresting field for investigation. 
In the Lake District the connection between 
topography and glaciation is naturally close, and 
NO. 2462, VOL. 98] 
345 
this is a subject on which the author is particularly 
competent to speak with authority. The develop- 
ment of the drainage system, together with its 
later modifications, as well as the origin of the 
lakes and tarns, are dealt with in a masterly 
manner. It is made abundantly clear that both 
ice-erosion and glacial deposit have played an 
important part in producing the characteristic 
types of scenery to which so much of the present 
beauty and interest of this region are due, 
The author has succeeded admirably in the 
dificult task of producing a book which will be 
both interesting and instructive to the general 
reader as well as valuable to the serious student. 
The portions printed in large type form a con- 
tinuous narrative of the main features of the 
geological history of the district, while the sections 
in smaller type provide a. wealth of descriptive 
detail with ample references to the original litera- 
ture, which will be of the greatest value to those 
who wish to carry out further work along special 
lines. 
The book is well printed and the illustrations 
are numerous and well chosen, a feature of special 
interest being several reproductions of maps illus- 
trating, among others, the classical papers of Dr. 
Marr and Mr. Harker on the Shap granite and 
of Mr. Harker on the gabbro of Carrock Fell. 
Both the author and Dr. H. H. Thomas are to be 
heartily congratulated on the beautiful coloured 
geological map of the district; possibly this helps 
in part to account for the very high price at 
which the book is published. Reo Ta ks 
A HAUSA BOTANICAL VOCABULARY. 
A Hausa Botanical Vocabulary. By Dr. J. M. 
Dalziel. Pp. 119. (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 
Ltd.). Price 6s. 6d. net. 
iB DALZIEL deserves imperial thanks for pro- 
ducing a little book of imperial importance : 
the names in Hausa of all the more striking and 
important trees and plants in the flora of Northern 
Nigeria. The scope of the book, so far as 
botanical regions extend, is probably limited by 
the Sahara Desert on the north, the river Benue 
on the south, the Chad region on the east, and 
the course of the Middle Niger on the west. It 
does not, therefore, extend into the almost 
oppressively rich flora of Southern Nigeria, be- 
cause nearly all of Southern Nigeria lies beyond 
the experiences of the MHausa-speaking folk, 
though, it is true, that experience does cross the 
Benue. 
Companion works to this book ought to make 
their appearance in all parts of British Tropical 
Africa. Some years ago the Scottish missionaries 
of Blantyre (see the present writer’s work on 
British Central Africa) endeavoured, with the 
assistance of their native pupils, to print similar 
researches, at any rate to give the native name 
of every important tree and plant in Nyasaland. 
But, unfortunately, they were not able to combine 
with this in all cases correct botanical identifica- 
T 
