314 Reviews — H. B. Woodward's Geologij of England and Wales. 



I. — The Geology of England and Wales. By Horace B. 

 Woodward, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England and 

 Wales. Second Edition, pp. 670, with Geological Map and 103 

 Illustrations. (London : George Philip & Son, 1887.) 



MOKE than ten years have elapsed, as the author reminds us, since 

 the first edition of this work was published. During the interval 

 a considerable amount of new material had accumulated, so that the 

 geological public were quite prepared for the revision of the original 

 work which had been so fully appreciated that it was already well 

 nigh out of print. A comparison of the two editions may be said to 

 afibrd an outline of the progress of geology during the last decade 

 in the Old Country, which still continues to furnish useful matter 

 to investigators, notwithstanding the more colossal features of con- 

 tinental and trans-European areas, which have lately been brought 

 to light, "The original plan of the book has not been altered, but 

 the volume has attained a larger size, owing to the many additions 

 necessary to do justice to the subject. Nor is this increase surprising 

 when it is remembered that, sixty-five years ago, the excellent and 

 in great measure original ' Outlines of the Geology of England and 

 Wales,' by Conybeare and Phillips, filled 531 pages ; and only the 

 first part of that work was published. The aim of the present 

 work is to afi'ord a book of reference, useful not only to students of 

 the scientific aspect of the subject, but also to engineers and others 

 in its practical applications," 



On the question of Nomenclature and Classification Mr. Woodward 

 observes that, in the absence of a definite scheme formulated on the 

 part of the International Geological Commission, the classification in 

 the previous edition has been in the main retained, " As before,, 

 alternative groupings are stated, and, wherever possible, old and 

 well-established names of formations are employed, while the 

 synonyms are also mentioned. Numerous tables are given with the 

 view of explaining more clearly the relations of the various divisions 

 of the stratified rocks. An attempt has been made to give some 

 historical value to the work by indicating the labours of the many 

 geologists to whose observations our present knowledge is due," 

 He also alludes to the assistance rendered by many of the leading 

 geologists of the day ; and expresses his indebtedness to the Councils 

 of the Geological Society and the Geologists' Association, as also to 

 the Editot of the Geological Magazine in the matter of reproducing 

 illustrations. These have been further supplemented by some 

 effective etchings by Mr. Alfred Dawson of scenery in the Isle of 

 Purbeck, which seem to take the place of the woodcuts of the pre- 

 vious edition borrowed from Mackintosh's " Scenery of England and 

 Wales." Thus we lose the illustration of the action of atmospheric 

 disintegration afforded by the Millstone Grit of Brimham rocks 

 (1st ed. p. 90), to have it replaced by an etching of the Agglestone 

 near Studland, an isolated remnant of Lower Bagshot beds, locally 

 hardened, which tells the same story (2nd ed. p. 607). 



