Reviews—Manual of the Geology of India. 79 
REVIEWS. 
Li) Ais 
J.—A Manvat or THe Gronocy or Inpra. Chiefly compiled from 
the Observations of the Geological Survey. By H. B. Mepuicort, 
M.A., F.R.S., Superintendent, Geological Survey of India; and 
W. T. Blanford, A.R.S.M., F.R.S., Deputy-Superintendent. 
2 vols. 8vo. pp. Ixxx. and 817. Illustrated by 23 Plates, and a 
Geological Map. (Published by order of the Government of 
India: Calcutta, 1879.) London: Triibner & Co. 
eee year 1879 forms an era in Asiatic Geology, as it witnessed 
the publication of the Manual of the Geology of India, a full 
and very able summary of the status of Geological Science in India 
up to 1878, written by Messrs. H. B. Medlicott and W. T. Blanford, 
the present heads of the Geological Survey Department. This 
Manual embodies the result of the Geological Survey, together with 
those springing from the labours of the, unfortunately very small, 
number of non-professional geologists who have made India their 
field of study, and sets them before the scientific world, clearly and 
systematically arranged, in two volumes, accompanied by a general 
geological map, the first of its kind, based upon a real survey. 
The Manual is not offered to the public as a complete record of 
the Geology of India, as the Survey of the whole country is far 
from being finished; but, as the authors state in their pretace, “It 
had become imperative as a duty to the public to bring together a 
summary of the work accomplished since the commencement of the 
Survey, and it was equally essential for the Survey itself that some 
general record of the results obtained up to date should be compiled. 
These objects could only be obtained by attempting a general map 
and review of the geology of India; but the reader must not 
forget that the present attempt is more of the nature of a progress 
report than of a finished work. The numerous and large areas left 
blank in the annexed map show at once how far the present 
publication falls short of the promise implied in the title.” 
Despite the admittedly imperfect character of the work, it is yet 
so rich in facts of the greatest interest to all true geologists, many 
of which are now for the first time made public in an easily ac- 
cessible form, that it is right to draw the attention of the scientific 
world to the book. Unfortunately the limited length of this notice 
will not admit of full justice being done. 
To begin with externals, the work is well got up, and the typo- 
graphy, like that of all the publications of the Geological Survey of 
India, is good, while the contents of the volumes are rendered easily 
accessible by the full tables of contents and general index ; and non- 
geologists will be greatly helped by the glossary of technical and 
scientific terms used. The illustrations of the work consist of 21 
well-lithographed plates of fossils, and of a few cuts of sections, 
fossils and views scattered through the text. A small sketch-map 
shows the courses of the principal mountain chains. The plates of 
fossils illustrate clearly the forms recognized by the Survey Palzon- 
tologists as leading types. 
