378 Reviews — Sharp's Rudiments of Geology. 



Alpine streams carry down an '•'incalculable" quantity of material, 

 geologists may as well give up the attempt to be exact in their calcu- 

 lations. The same want of care is evidenced in other pages ; thus 

 we may remark, in the enumeration of the characteristic fossils of the 

 Stonesfield Slate, Mr. Sharp notices the occurrence of " the wing-cases 

 of Beetles, a beautiful wing of a Butterfly, and many insects," which 

 sentence requires the addition of " other " before the final noun to be 

 correct. So also at page 48, " Mollusca are less plentiful than Cephal- 

 opoda "! Still these slight inaccuracies are of little importance, and 

 do not greatly militate against the undoubted value of the work. 



Part II., which deals with the Stratigraphical and Palasontological 

 data, is prefaced by a well-arranged table, giving, in addition to the 

 customary list of formations, the maximum thickness of each set of 

 beds. Then follows an account of the various divisions and sub- 

 divisions of these formations, useful references being made in each 

 case to the lithological and palaeontological characteristics of each, 

 sufficient to give a good general idea of the nature of the groups of 

 strata ; and, though space admits neither of illustration nor details, 

 the brief account of the most remarkable fossils is clear, though the 

 natural-history knowledge exhibited is by no means perfect. 



The more important groups of the animal and vegetable life of the 

 several epochs are alone referred to ; and the most important litho- 

 logical features and fossils, which would lead to the general identifi- 

 cation of the groups, are enumerated and defined, so as to admit of 

 ready appreciation by an inexperienced student. 



Great care is shown in the description of the Oolites, and, brief as 

 it necessarily is, it is full of value ; the range, for instance, of the 

 more or less marine beds of the " Stonesfield Slate " through North- 

 amptonshire and Lincolnshire, possibly to Scarborough, where it "is 

 probably ultimately represented by the Upper Plant Shale," being 

 clearly explained by the successive alterations in the Palseontological 

 peculiarities of the series of beds. In fact, the author seems to be 

 essentially an Oolitic Geologist, treating the older beds, from the 

 Lias downwards, and the upper beds from the Purbeck upwards, 

 chiefly in the light of Lyell's " Student's Manual " and other elemen- 

 tary works and compilations. 



The book closes with a short description of the first-known 

 appearance of Man upon the earth ; flint implements being found as- 

 sociated with bones of the Elephant, Cave-Bear, etc., but not with 

 human bones ; and the history of this most interesting branch of 

 modern geological research is shortly told. 



Mr. Sharp's " Eudiments of Geology " will be a useful book for 

 geological students of all classes. To the more advanced reader it 

 furnishes a handy precis of the chief points in the branch of science 

 he pursues ; for the beginner it provides the scaffolding wherewith 

 he may arrange his future studies and build up his knowledge. 



C. Cooper King. 



