September i6, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



139 



factory. On the basis of such omissions, a general distrust is 

 tlirown about the whole work, which only a very careful and ac- 

 curate refutation by the authors of the work can remove. 



BOOK -REVIEWS. 



The Origin of Mountain Ranges, considered Experimentally, 

 Structurally, Dynamically, and in Relation to their Geo- 

 logical History. By T. Mellard Reade. London, Taylor 

 & Francis. 8*'. 



Mountain ranges, that show the effects of lateral compression 

 in their folded structure, are explained by most geologists by means 

 of Elie de Beaumont's ' contractional hypothesis : ' the interior of 

 the earth is thought to be contracting as it cools, and the outer 

 part, or ' crust,' wrinkles as it settles down to accommodate itself to 

 the diminished interior. But in recent years several geologists 

 have urged that this hypothesis was quantitatively insufficient to ac- 

 count for the known mountain ranges, and while these criticisms do 

 not seem to me to be by any means fatal to the effective working of 

 the contractional process to a considerable extent, they have served 

 a good purpose in emphasizing the need of further search for meth- 

 ods of mountain-making. The want of any sufficient means of 

 accounting for plateaus of massive elevation, also points to the im- 

 portance of further study of the physics of the earth. 



The illustrious Playfair, writing early in this century, thought 

 nothing so capable of causing a slow-acting, irresistible elevatory 

 force as the expansive power of heat ; but he suggested no means 

 of applying the heat in proper time, place, and quantity. Mr. Mel- 

 lard Reade, following out an idea advanced by Capt. Thos. Hutton 

 of New Zealand, and others, attempts to supply this deficiency as 

 follows : mountain regions were once regions of heavy sedimenta- 

 tion ; the slow accumulation of sediments caused a depression, and 

 a consequent warming of the mass beneath them ; the warming 

 mass tends to expand in all directions, but can expand only verti- 

 cally; and, in this conversion of cubic into linear expansion, Mr. 

 Reade finds a sufficient cause for the extravasation of lavas, the 

 elevation of plateaus, and the crushing deformation of mountain 

 ranges. The last-named process seems to me only remotely con- 

 nected with this cause, but the other two may find some or much 

 explanation in it. It is necessarj', in order that the process shall 

 work efficiently, that the depression caused by sedimentation, shall 

 for a time go on faster than the consequent ascent of the deep 

 isogeotherms ; if we admit this to be possible, the hypothesis gives 

 a qualitatively correct explanation of those paradoxical changes of 

 level seen in the elevation of areas heavily loaded with sediments, 

 and the depression of lands deeply denuded ; it also suggests a 

 reasonable correlation between the slow, light sedimentation of 

 such regions as Wisconsin, and their long exemption from serious 

 disturbance. The process therefore deserves to be discussed rather 

 than dismissed : working with other processes, it will, I believe, 

 come to be accepted as a useful aid to a common end. 



W. M. D. 



The Teaching of Geography. By ARCHIBALD Geikie. London, 

 Macmillan. 12°. 



The book under review is the first volume of Macmillan 's geo- 

 graphical series, which is edited by Archibald Geikie. It is an in- 

 troduction on the teaching of geography, in which the author sets 

 forth his views on the scope and goal of geographical science and 

 of the methods of teaching it. The book shows in an admirable 

 way how geography can be made a useful and attractive study, how 

 in teaching it the mental faculties of the child can be developed and 

 its power of observation increased. 



Of course, the author's method rests on the views he holds on the 

 aims and method of geography. He says (p. 2), " It is the special 

 function of geography to direct our attention to the [phenomena 

 surrounding us], to increase our knowledge of the country we live 

 in, and thence to trace analogies and contrasts among the aspects 

 of nature in other regions of the globe. Geography compares the 

 topography of one continent with that of another, dwelling upon the 

 fundamental elements of each, and showing how they have affected 

 the distribution and development of the human population. . . . 

 In gathering the materials for this comprehensive picture of the 



earth as the dwelling-place of man, geography culls freely from 

 almost every branch of natural science and from history." 



From this standpoint the subject is admirably treated, Geikie 

 shows how every single fact and every single observation can be 

 made use of from a geographical standpoint, — the state of the 

 weather, the furniture of the school-room, the silk kerchief of a 

 child, or the coal used for fuel. He makes the study of the sur- 

 roundings the starting-point for teaching phenomena of natural his- 

 tory, of meteorology, historv, and of social science. But it seems 

 to us that if the curriculum of a school should be planned out ac- 

 cording to Geikie's suggestions, the geographical point of view 

 would become too predominant. His recommendation that actual 

 observations should always be the foundation of teaching is of emi- 

 nent importance, but observations must not be exclusively treated 

 from a geographical standpoint. 



Two ends are to be kept in view in teaching : the development of 

 the power of reasoning" and of observation, and that of the heart 

 and feelings. In the elementary stage both goals are attained by 

 inducing the child to look at the things themselves, and to take a 

 lively interest in them, and by training it to notice differences in 

 things. By this method the child gains an active interest in the 

 subject which it is taught, and a foundation is laid for future ex- 

 planations and classifications. So far, Geikie's proposals cannot be 

 excelled. But later on, the character of the natural sciences and 

 physics makes it necessary that they deal to a great extent with 

 generalizations and abstractions which only educate the powers of 

 reasoning. Geography acts as an important counterbalance against 

 this tendency, and we should wish that this fact had been more en- 

 ergetically emphasized by the author. He recognizes this fact, and 

 mentions it in several passages of the book, e.g., " The objects of 

 excursions are to train the pupils in habits of observation and re- 

 flection, to teach them the elements of topography, to enlarge their 

 capacity for the comprehension of geography, and generally to 

 stimulate their love of nature " (p. 73). But it is our opinion that 

 this last point ought to be made the principal goal of geography- 

 teaching in all grades. While the teacher of natural science chiefly 

 develops the power of reasoning, the geographer must always try to 

 keep alive the actual interest in the individual phenomenon as it 

 presents itself to the eye, and in the mutual interdependence of its 

 parts. Therefore geography must be placed in the curriculum of 

 the school in one class with history and literature, and in advanced 

 teaching it ought to be treated accordingly. 



If Geikie's proposals for elementary teaching were accepted by 

 teachers, — not of geography alone, — and if the historical stand- 

 point were to be taught in the same enlightened way, a great step 

 forward would be made. 



We agree more fully with the author's, views on the teaching of 

 physical geography than with his treatment of political geography. 

 Many subjects upon which he touches, which belong to linguistics 

 and social science, seem to be too difficult to be grasped by a child, 

 and others can be more adequately dealt with from an historical 

 point of view than from a geographical one. The cultivation of 

 land, its products, the situation of villages and roads, ahd similar 

 subjects, may be treated with advantage, while money, telegraph, 

 and post, etc., are more satisfactorily dealt with from an historical 

 standpoint. Particular care ought to be taken in treating anthropo- 

 geographical subjects, for most of these phenomena are so compli- 

 cated that the juvenile mind is unable to grasp them. Science itself 

 has not treated these subjects in a satisfactory way, and most of 

 its theories are vague and not well founded. We should hesitate, 

 for instance, to lay any stress on such facts as the position of Brit- 

 ain in the very midst of the land hemisphere (p. 19S), as upon 

 thorough investigation it may be shown that in fact they are only 

 of secondary importance. But the elementary problems of anthro- 

 pogeography may be treated : the influence of climate upon the life 

 of peoples and man, the means of communication, and their depend- 

 ence upon the configuration of the ground, etc. 



The present book, and several other publications, are proof of the 

 stimulus the teaching of -geography has received in England by the 

 endeavors of the Royal Geographical Society. So far, little interest 

 has been awakened on this side of the ocean, but publications of 

 this kind cannot fail to e.xcite the interest of American geographers. 



F. Boas. 



