76 Reviews — L' Homme Fossile en Europe. 



Hull a paper "on the future Water-supply of London," with an account 

 of the two great schemes for obtaining it, one of which was pro- 

 pounded by Mr. Bateman, and applies to North Wales., the other by 

 Messrs. Hemans and Hassard, to the Lake-country. Taking a 

 general view of the two plans, the author states that Mr. Bateman's 

 has the advantage of shorter distance and smaller cost, while the 

 rival one has the advantage of natural storage reservoirs, and of 

 conferring a benefit on the inhabitants of South Lancashire. The 

 paper is illustrated with a map. 



Besides the usual Chronicles of the progress of G-eology and 

 Paleontology, Mining, Metallurgy, and Mineralogy, one on Archge- 

 ology and Ethnology has been added, which will be interesting to 

 many, 



II. — L'HoMME Fossile en Europe. 1867. Brussels, Muquardt; 

 Paris, Beinwald. By Chevalier H. Le Hon. 



IN the Geological Magazine for December last, we gave a very brief 

 notice of this new book, which was at that time in course of 

 being printed. It is now published, and forms a neat octavo volume 

 of 360 pages, well illustrated with woodcuts and lithographic plates. 

 One of the illustrations is a reduced copy of the representation on 

 fossil ivory of the Mammoth, discovered by M. Lartet in Perigord 

 (see Geological Magazine, Vol. HI. p 480). M. le Hon considers 

 it to be of much higher antiquity than all human traditions. He 

 estimates the antiquity of man on our planet at about 30,000 years, 

 and states that all the evidence seems to prove that man lived in 

 Asia before inhabiting Europe ; that towards the " Great Glacial 

 Period " the climate of the southern part of Asia was less rigid than 

 that of Europe, and the country more suited to the wants of the 

 first men, whose dentition was frugivorous rather than carnivorous (?) ; 

 and that during the glacial period Europe was separated from Asia, 

 the two continents not having been re-united until after the departure 

 of the waters. It was then, on the emergence of the land, that the 

 first immigration of man towards the west (Europe) took place. M. 

 le Hon's history ceases with the first usage of iron in the west of 

 Europe. 



M. le Hon's work will no doubt attain considerable popularity, as 

 the author has rendered it comprehensible to all, by using the simplest 

 language consistent with scientific accuracy ; and although it is not 

 of so general a character as that of our distinguished countryman. 

 Sir Charles Lyell, being, as its title indicates, mainly confined to the 

 ancient remains of man in Europe, yet it is extremely valuable and 

 useful as a summary of the very numerous and scattered publications 

 on this favourite field of enquiry in Europe. Some of the author's 

 speculations show him to be a man of great ability and profound 

 study, but we hesitate more in this country than in Prance, to enter 

 far upon speculative grounds, preferring to ' feel our way ' as much 

 as possible before venturing beyond the region of facts. 



