GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 
The Scenery of Switzerland and the Causes to which it is due. By Sir John 
Lubbock. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1896. 
Two critics of this one book have said : “ Had not this volume borne a 
well-known name we should have guessed it to be the production of one 
or more geological students who bad read too many German text-books, 
and mixed their notes with . . . brief and simple extracts from the 
diary of a Swiss tour” (London Athenamin, Aug. 1, 1896); and “This 
admirable book shows bow thoroughly a sagacious amateur may follow, 
appreciate, and transmit to a large circle of readers the best physiograpbic 
results gained by geologists and geographers of Switzei’land ” {Science, 
Aug. 7, 189()). As the latter opinion is my own, I naturally prefer it to 
that of the London writer, who seems to me a carping critic, unsympa- 
thetic and unappreciative. He gloats over misprints, he dwells on mis- 
takes of de for du, he magnifies other trifling inaccuracies, and thus fails 
to present to his readers a clear idea of the intention of the book and of 
its e.ssentially successful accomplishment. As it seems to me, the real 
point of the book is this: instead of contenting himself, after the fashion 
of the typical .■Mpine clubman, with a merely athletic ascent of a moun- 
tain peak, in itself truly a fine and invigorating exercise, Lubbock has 
done much more, for he has studied as well as climbed, and the book is 
an effort to share with others the intellectual entertainment thus gained. 
As he says: ” My attention was from the first directed to the interesting 
2 )roblems presented by the'physical geography of the country. I longed 
to know what forces had raised the mountains, had hollowed out the 
lakes, and directed the rivers. During all my holidays these questions 
have occupied my thoughts, and I have read much of what has been 
written about them.” Speaking of the plan of his book, he adds: “I 
urged Tyndall and several others far better qualified than I am myself to 
give us such a volume, feeling sure that it would be welcome to our coun- 
trymen, and add both to the pleasure and to the interest of their Swiss 
trips. They were all, however, otherwise occupied, but they encouraged 
me to attempt it, promising me their valuable assistance, and this must 
be my excuse for undertaking the task, jierhajis in'ematurely.” 
The book is a very welcome contribution to pojjular scientific literature, 
and the more so because it is upon a subject that has called forth singu- 
larly little writing of this class, in spite of the rich variety of its materials. 
It gives a brief account of the geology of the Alps, of the origin of moun- 
tains in general, and of the structural features of the mountains of Switzer- 
land in ijarticular ; then follow chapters on ice and glaciers, on rivers, val- 
leys, and lakes, and on the influence of the strata on scenery. Nearly two 
hundred pages ensue on special districts of the Alps, such as the Jura, the 
central plain, Mt Blanc, the Bernese Oberland, the Rhine, the Reuss, and 
the Engadine. Nowhere else can the intelligent reader or observant 
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