44, Reviews—The British Isles. 
The number of pages given to the pre-Cambrian and Paleozoic 
rocks is 171, while the Mesozoic and later formations occupy 132. 
A work of this kiad is not a complete presentation of facts, but a 
presentation of facts so far as they are known; and judged on this 
basis the space devoted to the older rocks is disproportionately 
large. But perhaps this is unavoidable. A system which occurs in 
widely scattered outcrops may require more room for its description 
than a system which forms a continuous belt, although—and, 
indeed, it may be because—our knowledge of the former is much less 
complete. 
It would evidently be impossible, without unduly extending this 
notice, to criticize the entire book in detail; and it would be 
invidious to select the work of any single author. It must accordingly 
suffice to say that the whole scheme is admirably carried out, and 
that errors are few and, within the limits of our present knowledge, 
unimportant. Exception, however, may be taken to a statement 
on the first page. According to Dr. Morley Davies, the terms 
Caledonian and Armorican, as applied to folds, merely denote 
direction. In making this statement he follows Professor Lapworth, 
who at a meeting of the Geological Society in 1902 gave a similar 
definition. But this is not the meaning of the terms as originally 
proposed, nor is it the sense in which they are now used by most 
geologists, or, indeed, by any geologist outside the British Isles. 
The English language is not so poor that it requires the invention of 
special terms to indicate direction, and direction only ; though some 
convention is desirable to avoid such clumsy expressions as “ N.E.— 
S.W. folds’. If, however, the geologist cannot prevail upon himself 
to use so simple a word as north-east, he should at least select an 
adjective which is not already employed in the same connexion, 
with a different significance. 
The book is not intended for the novice, but the advanced student 
will find it very useful. For the traimed geologist it may to a con- 
siderable extent take the place that H. B. Woodward’s Geology of 
England and Wales used to occupy, though it is entirely different 
In conception and execution. 
Useful bibhographies are appended to each system. They vary 
in completeness, and most of them seem to end about 1912; but 
some include references to papers published in 1913 and 1914. 
Most of the figures are from previous publications, but some of the 
maps and diagrams have been specially prepared. All of them are 
clear and wellreproduced. One of the original maps is here reproduced 
on a reduced scale. A first glance revealed rather a large 
number of misprints, but this must have been by chance, for closer 
examination showed that the proportion of printers’ errors is small. 
There is, in fact, no fault to find with the manner in which the book 
has been produced, and both editor and publisher may be con- 
gratulated. Itshould perhaps be added that the volumeisin English. 
The price given on the cover is 16 marks, but what that may mean 
now no one but the publisher is likely to know. Jeb 
