Reviews — Rammy^s Physical Geology. 135 



showed me something larger, but detail seems his forte. He is ever 

 in doubt, even vrlien nearly convinced, about little things, and 

 yet grasps the subject so well notwithstanding, that he produces 

 better work and understands it better than any man on the Survey." 



"Next day one of the canine companions of the party, ' Jukes's 

 dog Governor, amused himself by slaying a sheep, which cost his 

 master 7s. 6d.' " 



Kanisay himself, as will be gathered from the foregoing remarks, 

 was somewhat impatient of detail, preferring to deal with broad 

 generalizations. When in the field overlooking the work of his 

 men, he cared not to engross his jnind too continuously with geo- 

 logical facts, and his conversation was illumined by his passionate 

 love of poetry and of literature in general. Even Murchison, when 

 in the field with him, was apt " to talk far too much geology." 

 In later years Ramsay appeared to manifest perhaps too little 

 sympathy with the careful, but often very minute work, brought 

 before the Geological Society of London ; but revisiting Wales, lie 

 writes from Portmadoc (1874) : " I am busy revising a deal of 

 country and realizing all the discoveries that have turned up since 

 Selwyn and I were here more than twenty-five years ago." 



Changes there must be in methods of work and in the inter- 

 pretation of phenomena as knowledge increases ; changes also come 

 about in our social proceedings. Those who attend the Anniversary 

 Meeting of the Society and the dinner afterwards, will hardly do as 

 Kamsay did in 184:8. He says : " We broke up about eleven, and 

 in the long-run Smyth, Reeks, Bristovv, and I had some supper, 

 Got home at half-past three." 



Of the scientific woi-k achieved by Ramsay we have a good 

 summary in the concluding chapter of this volume: a fitting 

 termination to the record of his career, of his travels abroad as well 

 as in this country, of his eager study of glacial phenomena, and of 

 his bold theory of the origin of certain lake-basins. To learn the 

 history of these and other matters the student will gladly take up 

 this Memoir by Sir Archibald Geikie ; and whether or not he has 

 had the privilege of personal acquaintance with Ramsay, the student 

 or the general reader interested in the progress of science, will 

 welcome this memoir of a genial and gifted Geologist. 



HI. — The Physical Geology and Geography of Gkeat Britain : 

 A Manual of P>RiTrsn Geology. By the late Sir Andrew 

 C. Ramsay, LL.D., F.R.S., etc., Director-General of the Geolo- 

 gical Survey of the United Kingdom. Sixth Edition. Edited by 

 Horace B. Woodward, F.G.S.. of the Geological Survey. 8vo. 

 pp 421, illustrated with a Geological Map printed in colours 

 and 137 woodcuts. (London : Edward Stanford, 1894.) Price 

 10s. 6d. 



IT is now sixteen years since the fifth edition of Sir Andrew- 

 Ramsay's Geology appeared (see Geol. Mag., 1879, p. 277), 

 having gone through five editions in tea years. The last edition 



