SEPTEMBER lO, 1896] 



NATURE 



441 



Again, why give the reader so little of Sir John Lubbock, 

 and so much of other authors ? De Saussure and Favre 

 may indeed have " made " the g^eology of Mont Blanc, but 

 why these long French quotations from their writings? 

 Does the Pavilion de Bellevue stand in need of a testi- 

 monial to its beauty from any French writer, even Favre? 

 (p. 327). A graver objection to Sir John Lubbock's treat- 

 ment of the NIont Blanc massif is the inadequate account 

 of itsgeotectonic relations. It is impossible to satisfactorily 

 explain the " causes to which Mont Blanc is due," without 

 setting forth its relations to the fold "trough'' of the 

 Brianqonnais and the broken western end of the Valais 

 "crest " of mountains. It is, indeed, the greatest blemish 

 in Sir John Lubbock's book that he nowhere gives a 

 geological insight into the structure of the Monte Rosa 

 massif of mountains from the Simplon Pass to the St. 

 Bernard. Yet this area is the Swiss frontier, whereas 

 the Mont Blanc massif is almost wholly French and 

 Italian. However fully, then, the succeeding chapter 

 on " The X'alais" treats the Rhone X'alley, it misses 

 its mark with regard to the mountains. The few 

 notes on Zermatt and the Matterhorn, on p. 357, are 

 quite insufficient. 



The Bernese Oberland is more deftly handled than 

 Mont Blanc. The intricacies of the overfold of gneiss 

 are explained, and there are no fewer than six geological 

 sections from Fellenberg and Baltzer to illustrate the 

 fourteen pages. The Rhone, Upper Aar, Reuss, Ticino, 

 and Rhine valleys are treated much after the fashion of 

 the Swiss " Livret-Guide " referred to above, although 

 without its daily itinerary. In these chapters we are 

 made to feel that the author has himself gone over every 

 step of the ground, but he follows the "Livret-Guide" 

 too apparently in his geology. " Ziirich and Glarus " — the 

 title of Chapter xx. — gives an account of the variation in 

 the mo\ement of the old glacier which once filled the 

 Lake of Zurich. The Glarus Mountains are described in 

 accordance with Heim's well-known works. Chapter 

 xxiv. on the Engadine is short. It explains the shifting 

 northward of the watershed of the .Alps, and the consequent 

 formation of the line of lakes. The rocks of the Bernina, 

 Julier, and Baselgia, are also indicated. 



There are 154 illustrations in the book. Almost all 

 are of the nature of geological sections or diagrams, 123 

 being reproductions from the works, mostly of Swiss 

 geologists, and a few from English authors. The re- 

 mainder are simple diagrams — with the exception of 

 familiar photographs of the Rhone glacier, the Grimsel, 

 and the valley of Chamonix ; a successful photograph of 

 the rock-fold at the " Cascade of .Arpenaz," and another 

 of a " Scratched Pebble " from the moraine at Zurich. 

 Two figures specially deserve to be noted. Figs. 49 and 

 50, the front and side view of a river cone, as they, along 

 with one or two drawings from Heim ("Bay of Uri," 

 Fig. 141, and "Volcanic Group of the Hohgau," Fig. 138), 

 and from Baltzer (" \'iew near the Grimsel," Fig. 37, and 

 " \'iew of the Jungfrau," Fig. 124), are the only illustra- 

 tions which present to the eye of the reader scenic effects 

 in combination with geological or physical truths. Like 

 the text of the book, the illustrations are too technical 

 for a thoroughly popular book on " Scenery." On the 

 other hand, if the book lacks in imagination and style, it 

 is not wanting in valuable and trustworthy facts, and 

 these may be enough for the utilitarian mind. 



A standard work amongst us already shows what can 

 be made of the "Scenery" of a country in the hands of a 

 geologist who is gifted with an artist's feeling for nature, 

 and is a master of style. I refer to Sir Archibald Geikie's 

 "Scenery of Scotland." Without this, we might have 

 demanded less from Sir John Lubbock in his "Scenery 

 of .Switzerland." As it is, he has conferred a boon on 

 the travelling English public, and broken new ground in 

 the literature of the Swiss .'Mps. 



M.\Ri.\ M. Ogilvie. 

 NO. 1402, VOL. 54 j 



THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN> 

 III. 

 Trondhjem, August 14. 

 C INCE writing my last notes, the eclipse has come and 

 ^ gone, and we are homeward bound, rather depressed 

 but satisfied that the Volagcs and ourselves had done our 

 duty, and that it was Dame Nature alone who was to 

 blame. 



Although on the 8th the weather in the forenoon was 

 very fine and promising, towards the latter part of the 

 day a change set in, and dark clouds came up. 



Captain King Hall, who came over from the ship in 

 the afternoon, soon detected what was wrong ; there 

 were two currents, an easterly and a westerly one, con- 

 tending for mastery. This elemental war was watched 

 with anxiety for two or three hours, and at times the 

 weather chances impro\-ed, but later rain set in, and we 

 could only hope against hope. It rained during our 

 dinner-hour in the tent, an excellent one lent us by the 

 War Department, kept dry under foot by a tarpaulin, 

 and a deep trench outside cut in the peat. Lieut. 

 Martin, the navigating oflicer, to whose constant care 

 many of the admirable arrangements on the island were 

 due, who had not only taken charge of the integrator, but 

 who has ipsissma manu put up all three of the discs,'-' 

 remained on shore and did the honours. 



A dim memory of the Latin grammar suggested cham- 

 pagne as an accompaniment of the well-cooked provender, 

 for were we not bound on the morrow to face not only the 

 ingens aquor, but, if all went well, something still more 

 awe-inspiring. 



Dinner over, the process of filling up all dark shdes 

 with the plates for the morrow was accomplished by 

 Lieut. Martin, Mr. Fowler, and Dr. Lockyer, after which 

 it was suggested that we should turn in early. 



The Rev. E. J. Vaughan, my son, and I occupied one 

 of the army tents, while Mr. Fowler and Lieut. Martin 

 had their stretchers placed in Kio Town Hall, as the 

 6-inch hut had been called. Our last survey of the 

 weather was not one to raise our spirits to any great 

 extent, but we were still buoyed up by the observed fact 

 that, as a rule, the early mornings, looking eastward, were 

 moderately clear. 



As we expected the Garonne, on her return from Spitz- 

 bergen, to anchor near our island some time in the 

 early morning, we had arranged with the guard to light 

 a beacon fire directly she was sighted, to show them our 

 whereabouts. 



.\t 1.30 my son took it into his head to take a stroll 

 around outside ; his attention was first drawn to the 

 beacon burning brightly on the hill, and the four marines 

 in their lamniy suits standing by the side of it. Looming 

 up very black and large, close to our island, was the good 

 ship Garonne, before her time. It was not long before 

 we received two nocturnal visitors. Captain Harry and 

 Mr. Miiller, who had come off to see about the day's 

 arrangements. The weather was anything but pleasant, 

 and their return to the ship was heralded by a downfall 

 of heavy rain. 



At 4 a.m. the parties, led by Captain King Hall, began 

 to arrive from the ship, the first thing they did on landing 

 being to make cocoa and breakfast. Mr. Thomas, in 

 charge of the chronometer, and the readers of the 

 thermometers, were the first to take their stations, and 

 for these at the time of first contact the work began with 

 the sky almost entirely covered with clouds, with narrow 



1 Continued from page 421. 



- It may be worth while to state that the eye-pointers used in connection 

 with the discs were impromptu affairs made by the ship's carpenter, but they 

 promised to work well. There must be tine adjustments, because it is not 

 likely that the point to be occupied by the eye will be calculated to an inch. 

 For these adjustments, then, we have first a horizontal bar, on which 

 hangs a vertical piece of wood about ten inches long, free to slide. _ On 

 piece of wood slides up or down a piece of brass carrying a pointer 



niarkmg the place of the eye ; thi; 

 of totality by the amanuensis. 



i brought into position at the beginning 



