REVIEWS. 
GroLocy oF InpIA FoR StupENTs. By D. N. Wants, M.A., B.Sc. 
pp. xx + 398, with 20 plates and 37 figures in the text. London: . 
Macmillan & Co. 1919. Price 18s. net. 
HE last edition of the Manual of the Geology of India appeared 
in 1893. Since that date Vredenburg’s Summary of the Geology 
of India (1907) and Holland’s article in the Imperial Gazetteer of 
India (1907) have been published ; but both of these are brief, and 
Mr. Wadia, accordingly, deserves the gratitude of geologists at home 
as well asin India for giving us a volume on a scale commensurate 
with the importance of the subject. Unlike the Manual his book is 
not official; it is written as a textbook for University students, and, 
perhaps for this reason, it is easier to read and follow than most 
official publications. It is, indeed, so clear in style and arrangement 
that it may even arouse the attention of geologists who have been 
deterred by the difficulties of an unfamiliar nomenclature from 
studying the great problems of Indian geology. 
Several of these are of universal interest. Few parts of the world 
offer conditions more favourable for the study of the “‘ Fundamental 
Complex” than the Indian Peninsula, and though the Geological 
Surveys—of the native statesas wellas ofthe Indian Government—are 
compelled to devote their attention primarily to questions of economic 
importance, considerable progress has been made in recent years 
in the elucidation of its more important features. We now know 
that a large part of the Complex consists of intrusive masses, which 
in some cases are of later date than the beds which rest upon it. 
But it is to the mountain ranges of the north that geologists in 
general look with the greatest interest. The contrast between 
Peninsular and extra-Peninsular India, both in structure and in the 
character of the deposits, was pointed out even in the first edition of 
the Manual, and later observations have only emphasized the 
difference. The researches of Middlemiss and others on the tectonics 
of the Himalayas and the other bordering ranges are of the greatest 
importance with regard to the general problem of mountain- 
building ; and the question of isostatic compensation is of interest 
not only to the geologist but also to the geodesist. 
Though a full discussion of such questions would be impossible 
and out of place in a textbook, Mr. Wadia gives an excellent summary 
of the present state of our knowledge of Indian geology, with 
references which will serve to guide the inquirer through the Memoirs 
and Records of the Geological Survey. Being himself a lecturer at 
the Prince of Wales’ College at Jammu, in Kashmir, he has added 
a special appendix on the geology of that province, which, as he 
says, “‘ contains one of the finest developments of the stratified record 
seen in the Indian region.” 
VOL, LVIII.—NO. Il. 6 
