494 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1403 



is concerned, scientific men throughout the 

 vast continent will be given every induce- 

 ment to attend the Toronto meeting. — The 

 London Times. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Text-Booh of Geology. By Amadeus W. 



GrEABAU. Two volumes. Part 1, General 



Geology, 864 pages, 734 text figures; Part 



2, Historical Geology, 976 pages, 1980 text 



figures. D. C. Heath & Co. 



A text-book in science may be written, like 

 other books, for name and fame; or to set 

 forth new truth; or for desired remuneration 

 (which may be in inverse ratio to value) ; 

 or simply because the author can not help it. 

 This latest ambitious addition to geologic 

 literature is another expression of the mental 

 activity and scientific industry of the author, 

 as it is his third important and voluminous 

 work within a few years. In 1909-1910 he 

 published, in conjunction with H. W. Shimer, 

 tivo handsome volumes on " North American 

 Index Fossils," covering only the inverte- 

 brates, with 1762 pages and profusely illus- 

 trated. In 1913 he produced another origi- 

 nal work, " Principles of Stratigraphy," with 

 1185 pages. This latest, if less original, work 

 is even more voluminous. 



Facing the writer are several shelves filled 

 with the antiques of English and American 

 geologic literature, text-books and treatises 

 dating back to the early part of the last cen- 

 tury. The striking comparison between the 

 old and new invites a brief homily on the 

 development of American geology, as illus- 

 trated by the text-books. 



These oldest books are amusing and piti- 

 ful in their diminutive size, narrow scope, 

 queer ideas, and their occasional illustra- 

 tions of exceeding crudity. If Science ad- 

 mitted pictorial illustrations a comparison of 

 the old cuts with modern engravings of the 

 same subjects would show the progress of 

 graphic art. The older books antedate photo- 

 graphy, which has been the greatest aid in 

 study of nature. 



Many of the old bocks have a theologic 

 flavor, and some close with a pious exhorta- 



tion. Beginning with Leibnitz (1646-1716) 

 the writers sought to harmonize the facts of 

 the new science with ancient Hebrew phi- 

 losophy, and in particular tried to prove that 

 Moses really meant " day " when he wrote 

 it (in English). While there are yet people 

 who give to old Hebrew literature more 

 credence than to modern science, the time 

 has gone by when American authors of scien- 

 tific works have to defer to superstition. 



Geology as a recognized branch of study 

 in the schools is less than a century old. As 

 a systemized branch of science and a part of 

 general culture of the educated man geology 

 began with Charles Lyell. His masterly 

 writings (1830-1857) proved the continuity 

 •^•;;-ic processes and set the standard for 

 geologic literature. Previous to about 1840 

 American students relied chiefly on English 

 works, or on American reprints. As late as 

 1837 Edward Hitchcock republished Dela- 

 Beche's " Eesearehes in Theoretic Geology," a 

 small octavo of 342 pages and with no illus- 

 trations. 



The oldest American text-book in this file 

 is a little duodecimo of 122 pages, with 17 

 pages of index and errata, by W. W. Mather, 

 entitled " Elements of Geology for the use 

 of Schools," date 1833. This has a very few 

 small diagrammatic illustrations. The writer's 

 copy has pasted in the front cover a printed 

 commendation by B. Silliman, of date June 

 18, 1834. 



Two other old books are " Outlines of Geol- 

 ogy," 1837, 384 pages, by J. L. Comstock; 

 " Elements of Geology," by Charles A. Lee, 

 1839, 375 pages. 



The second period of American geologic 

 literature (1841-1860) began with Edward 

 Hitchcock's " Elementary Geology," 1841. 

 For two decades this was the American au- 

 thority, and by 1860 it had run to the 30th 

 edition, with 424 pages. The publication of 

 a number of volumes by other authors sug- 

 gests the stimulus to scientific study. Three 

 of these had the favorite title " Elements of 

 Geology"; by Samuel St John, 1851 (334 

 pp.) ; Justin E. Loomis, 1852 (198 pp.) ; 

 Ayonzo Gray and C. B. Adams, 1853 (354 



