170 Revieus — Misa Maria Ogilvie, I). So. — 



Whence flowed the currents which bore the icebergs ? Dr. W. F. 

 Hume said from the south. So far as I know, the Dartmoor granite 

 does not vary much. At any rate, I can speak for the great 

 resemblance of the Betchworth granite bouhler " B " to the granite 

 of Hey Tor and that of Lustleigh Cleave, and thereabouts. The large 

 crystals specially bear a great resemblance. Professor Bonney gave 

 a tentative opinion as to their Scandinavian origin, but apparently 

 with no great degree of positiveness. I suggest, therefore, that the 

 conveying current may have been trom the south-west. The Dart- 

 moor Tors have undoubtedly suffered much denudation. Perhaps 

 they extended above the level of the Cretaceous sea, and gave rise 

 to an Alpine glacier even in the midst of an equable climate. 



As to the decomposition which Mr. Stebbing's boulders have 

 undergone, I think we may assume that the change has taken 

 place since their interment in the Chalk. I understand Mr. Stebbing 

 did not actually see them excavated, otherwise it would have been 

 interesting to have known whether there were smaller fragments or 

 any sand around them, as in the case of the Purley or Haling 

 boulder. I saw some blocks of chalk and a somewhat similar 

 granite, which had been used together as building materials, in the 

 foundations of the old Blackfriars Monastery. These were ex- 

 cavated about 1886, near the western end of Knightrider Street, 

 to make room for some new post-office buildings which were then 

 being erected. The chalk was comparatively intact. The granite 

 was in just such a condition of disintegration as was exhibited by the 

 two Betchworth boulders. 



S, IE "V" I IB "W S. 



I. — Microscopic and Systematic Stddt of Madreporarian Types 

 OF Corals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of 

 London, vol. clxxxvii (1896), pp. 83-345. By Miss Maria 

 Ogilvie, D.Sc.^ 



n'^HE criticism which a work like this calls for may be taken as 

 X au index of its importance. No one who has worked at the 

 corals will deny that Miss Ogilvie has the merit of advancing our 

 knowledge by a considerable amount of solid work ; we warmly 

 congratulate the gifted authoress upon it. But the critic's task is 

 to criticize, and the pleasanter congratulations must be hurried over 

 in order that we may endeavour to estimate the value of the work 

 done. It must be understood that J set this task before myself as 

 a reviewer in no arrogant spirit, as claiming the superiority of 

 a judge. A criticism is no more infallible than the work criticized. 

 A review at its best is but the calm and impartial opinion of 

 a fellow-worker in the same field. As no two workers approach 

 a subject from exactly the same point of view, no two having 

 worked with the same material, or treated what material they have 

 had in exactly the same way, everything is to be gained by free 

 criticism of one another. 



^ Mrs. John Gordon. 



