Revieics — Elisde Reclus on " The Ecwth." 37 



a great diversity in the relief of the laud. The mutual resemblances 

 andcoutrasts exhibited by the two halves of the world can, however, 

 be pefectly well explained if we connect them with one or the other 

 of these two orders of facts. If we look upon the land as forming 

 three parallel double continents, we must then be struck with the 

 similarity which they mutually present both as a whole and in 

 details ; if, on the contrary, we admit the usual division of the 

 continental masses into two worlds, we discern the reason of the 

 contrasts, which are only another kind of resemblance. .... Just as 

 in a woven fabric, we can discern both the warp and the woof in the 

 marvellous texture of the earth's surface." 



It is fortunate for M. Eeclus that his ideas of harmony and rhythm 

 are so j)lastic ; for in his next attempt^ which is the last to which we 

 shall draw attention — their elasticity is put to even a more severe 

 test. After drawing attention to the similarity in the shape of the 

 terminal points of the three southern continents, and to the existence 

 of an island, or a set of islands, on the southern side of each, he 

 proceeds to show that these three continental promontories are 

 represented by three peninsulas in each of the three northern 

 continents — another evidence of harmony and rhythm of the 

 highest order. Thus, commencing with Europe and Asia, Spain 

 corresponds with Arabia ; Italy with Hindostan (even to the exis- 

 tence of an island near the southern extremity of each), and Greece 

 with India beyond the Ganges. " With regard to Greece and the 

 Transgangetic peninsula, the seas which bathe their eastern coasts 

 are dotted over with innumerable islands and islets, like a brood of 

 young birds nestling under the wing of their mother. The two 

 other eastern peninsulas, which are also thrown off by the great 

 Asiatic continent, are each of them likewise accompanied by an 

 archipelago." But the European representative of these last is not 

 mentioned. 



The author's ideas of harmony, however, suffer the greatest wrench 

 during his comparison of the two trios of northern Old -World 

 peninsulas with their North American representatives. Can our 

 readers trace the harmonious analogy between California, Spain 

 and Arabia, between the Isthmus of Panama, Italy and Hindostan, 

 or between Florida, Greece, and Transgangetic India ? M. Eeclus 

 manages to sustain his theory in this last effort; but, to our mind, 

 his success speaks more of his ingenuity than of his philosophy. 



Pursuing a similar method, M. Eeclus discusses the relations of 

 the Plains and Deserts, the Mountains and Valleys, and the other 

 features of " The Land," and in subsequent chapters treats of " The 

 Circulation of Water " and " The Subterranean Forces." The latter 

 portion of the work is also strongly marked by idealism, like the 

 chapters which we have selected as being most appropriate for dis- 

 cussion in a Geological Magazine. All his statements are interesting, 

 all fresh, and all readable, although it must be said that they contain 

 little or nothing true that is not " familiar in our mouths as house- 

 hold words." 



Not even M. Eeclus, however, can find "harmony" in all the 

 phenomena of the globe. Indeed, he signally fails in the case of 



