268 Reviews — Dr. A. Brim's Volcanic Researches. 



I. — A New Yui.canology. 



ALBERT BEITN of Geneva may be ranked as one of the most 

 remarkable of contemporary workers in science. At his own 

 expense, and in the intervals of a business career, he has visited the 

 volcanoes of the Mediterranean region, of the Canary Isles, of Java 

 and Krakatoa, and, finally, of Hawaii. Much more than this, he has 

 supplemented mere observation by carefully planned experiments, 

 carried out both in the field and in the laboratory. For such 

 investigations it was necessary that Brim, in addition to his skill as 

 chemist, physicist and geologist, should possess a cool head and 

 undaunted pluck. His simple story of the eruption of ISemero, in 

 Java, and the accompanying photographic plates are ample evidence 

 that this condition is fulfilled. Alike as a scientist and as a sportsman 

 Albert Bran is sure of a respectful hearing from British geologists. 



And what has led this observer to undertake a self-imposed task 

 of such magnitude? A discovery: the universally accepted aqueous 

 theory of volcanoes broke down when critically tested in the classic 

 region of the Mediterranean ; a new vulcanology developed in the 

 mind of the experimenter, and accordingly nothing would suffice but 

 a personal investigation of representative volcanoes in other parts of 

 the globe. 



Brun has published many papers since 1901, for the most part in the 

 Archives des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles, Geneva, but considering 

 the novelt} T and importance of his results he is to be congratulated on 

 having gathered his writings together into book form. 1 The material 

 as now presented has been largely recast, and its arrangement is 

 excellent. The whole is easy to read, and although there is no index 

 there is a full table of contents. The photographic plates add greatly to 

 the value and beauty of the volume, and unfortunately also to its price. 



We shall now give a brief resume of the matter dealt with in this 

 exceptionally interesting book. 



A few definitions of terms are followed by an account of methods 

 employed in taking temperatures during the progress of laboratory 

 experiments designed to reproduce volcanic phenomena under conditions 

 favourable to exact observation. Four examples will suffice to illustrate 

 the value of such experiments in fixing temperatures actually 

 encountered in the field — 



1. The lowest temperature at which any particular lava can flow 

 at all is given in the laboratory by the temperature at which a thin 

 plate of the same lava (iu the same state of crystallization) begins to 

 bend under its own weight. 



2. The temperature at which ' ropy structures ' form can be 

 ascertained during the artificial production of like structures in a 

 slowly heated block of the lava in question, subjected to a slight 

 lateral pressure by means of a vice. 



1 Recherclies sitr V exhalaison volcanique, by Albert Brun, Cbemist, L.Sc.Pb. 

 Sorbonne, D.Sc.Ph. {honoris causa) Geneva. A large quarto volume, 227 pages, 

 16 text-figures, 27 photographic plates, and 7 panoramas. Price 30 francs. 



