468 Reviews — Mackintosh!' s Scenery of England Sf Wales. 



In the work before us, a well-thought effort has been made to trace 

 the nature of the geological causes, especially Denudation, by which 

 the physical features of England and Wales have been produced. 

 The author appears to have no personal acquaintance with foreign 

 lands ; therefore he refers to others for facts and notions regarding 

 the Denudation of Norway, Switzerland, and other Alpine countries ; 

 but in England and Wales he seems to have visited, and sometimes 

 resided in, the places from which he gathers the grounds of his 

 information and the illustrations of his views. Though not a pro- 

 fessional field-geologist, but by occupation, as he says, a " lecturer on 

 geology, etc., to provincial scientific institutions and schools," Mr. 

 Mackintosh has evidently prepared himself for geological research, 

 and is well read in Modern British Geology, at least ; and in his 

 book he is careful to refer to the authors treating of the points 

 and questions with which he concerns himself. His own views 

 of the nature of Denudation incline him to lay much stress on 

 marine action as having left its mark on the surface-features 

 of all countries ; and he says that the main object of his book 

 "is to trace and describe those peculiar forms of surface- con- 

 figuration which point to the sea as having been concerned in 

 their formation, not, however, overlooking the effects of rivers, rain, 

 frost, and ice." In a systematic and painstaking manner does 

 the author treat of the difficult subject of denudation, in all its mo- 

 difications, as seen in England and Wales, and described by Darwin 

 and other good observers in distant lands ; and certainly he keeps 

 in view "the importance of taking nothing for granted, and the 

 necessity for collecting facts, and attaching little importance to 

 theories;" and thus, giving credit to atmospheric action to a very 

 great extent, he never loses sight of what the sea could do, and 

 indeed in many cases must have done, while the land was rising and 

 sinking, and rising again through storm-tossed and tidal waves, for 

 at least 1,400 feet, as shown by the Post-tertiary beds on Moel 

 Tryfaen. In his application of these various forces to the long- 

 continued and manifold operations, the results of which we see in 

 terraces, coombs, cliffs, escarpments, tors, pillars, arches, rock-basins, 

 lakes, rivers, cataracts, valleys, plains, hills, mountain-peaks, and 

 other features, fashionings, and characters of our country and of 

 other regions, he conscientiously strives to emulate (though not 

 agreeing with him on all points) the eminent Denudationalist, 

 Professor Eamsay, of whom he says "I have reason to believe that, 

 like a true philosopher, he would vary his explanation to suit 

 diversity of internal structure and surface-configuration;" and in no 

 less degree does he aim to follow the veteran Murchison (to whom 

 he aptly dedicates his book) in being guided in his researches " by 

 an appeal to Nature, irrespective of prevailing theories." 



After some general remarks on Denudation, Mr. Mackintosh 

 describes, in some detail, the denuding action of the sea on the 

 coasts of England and Wales, especially of tidal currents and sea- 

 waves. The inequalities and forms of rock-surfaces under sea- water 

 are then described ; the forms of sea-beaches ; the cliff-lines, with 



