326 Revieics — Geikie^s Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain. 



protection was afforded to glaciated surfaces by even a thin layer 

 of till. Hence drag as a raode of glacial transportation is not to 

 be maintained — a conclusion at which Mr. Upham had previously 

 arrived. 



la IE "\^ I S -v^ S. 



I. — The Ancient Yoloanoes op Great Britain. By Sir Archibald 

 Geikie, F.R.S., D.C.L., D.Sc, etc., Director-General of the 

 Geological Survey. Imperial 8vo. In two volumes. Vol. I, 

 pp. xxiv and 477, with seven maps and 175 illustrations. Vol. II, 

 pp. xvi and 492, with 382 illustrations. (London : Macmillan 

 and Co., Ltd., 1897. Price 36s. nett.) (First notice.) 



THE author tells us that the present work is intended to offer a 

 summary of what has now been ascertained regarding the 

 former volcanoes of the British Isles. The subject, he says, has 

 occupied much of his time and thought all through life. Born 

 among the crags that marked the sites of some of these volcanoes, 

 he was led in his boyhood to interest himself in their structure and 

 'history. The fascination which they then exercised has lasted till 

 now, impelling him to make himself acquainted with the volcanic 

 records all over these islands, and to travel into the volcanic regions 

 of Europe and Western America for the purpose of gaining clearer 

 conceptions of the phenomena. 



Sir Archibald Geikie has from time to time communicated his 

 researches, during a period of almost forty years, to the Geological 

 Society of London and the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh. The present 

 work is intended to combine in a general narrative the whole pro- 

 gress of volcanic action from the remotest geological periods down 

 to the time when the latest eruptions ceased. 



An opportunity of partially putting this design into execution 

 occurred when, as President of the Geological Society of London, 

 he delivered the Annual Addresses in 1891 and 1892. Within the 

 limits permissible to such essays, it was not possible to present more 

 than a full summary of the subject. " Since that time," writes 

 Sir A. Geikie, " I have continued my researches in the field, espe- 

 cially among the Tertiary volcanic areas, and have now expanded 

 the two Addresses by the incorporation of a large amount of new 

 matter and of portions of my published papers." 



The author's labours have culminated in the production of the two 

 handsome volumes which, if they had been written by any less 

 gifted geologist, would still be of the greatest value to the student, 

 by reason of the wealth of maps and illustrations which they con- 

 tain, chiefly from the writer's own notebooks and sketches, and 

 photographs taken by Colonel Evans and Miss Thom, of Canna, 

 and by Mr. Robert Lunn for the Geological Survey among the 

 volcanic districts of Central Scotland. When to excellence of illus- 

 trations, however, is added the facile pen of Sir A. Geikie, the 

 volumes become as attractive from a literary and scientific point 

 of view as the pictures are from an artistic one. 



