i873«] Notices of Books. 121 



With so many admirable existing manuals the present work was 

 scarcely needed : it would have been better if the small amount 

 of new matter had found its way into the pages of one of the 

 periodicals devoted to microscopical subjects. 



Records of the Rocks; or Notes on the Geology, Natural History, 

 and Antiquities of North and South Wales, Devon, and 

 Cornwall. By Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S., Rector of 

 Pendock. With numerous Illustrations. London : John 

 Murray. 1872. 

 No one need be afraid that he will be led into any discussion of 

 the attitude of either science in general or geology in particular 

 in reference to the Bible or ordinary religious teaching. The 

 title, so similar to Hugh Miller's "Testimony of the Rocks," 

 and the clerical position of the author, might lead to this suppo- 

 sition. But not a word of the kind is to be found in the book ; 

 in fact the latter part of the title is really a fair exposition of its 

 contents. Mr. Symonds evidently knows his country well, has 

 walked it over and over again, has studied Sir Roderick 

 Murchison's "Silurian System and Siluria" thoroughly, and has 

 given the world the results of his observations. The geology 

 naturally is the principal part of the work, and the order of the 

 work follows that of the Rocks, beginning with the Laurentian, 

 and ending with the Permian. A devout adherent of Sir 

 Roderick Murchison, the author not only follows him over the 

 same ground, but he adopts his theories entirely, and owes very 

 many of his woodcuts to him. The remaining illustrations, 

 mostly by Sir Wm. Guise, are well and carefully drawn. The 

 natural history portion of the work consists, mainly of a record 

 of the habitats of rather rare plants, and the resort of various 

 fish ; whilst the antiquarian part of the work is the weakest 

 of all, being merely the accounts such as might be found in 

 ordinary guide books of old castles, with an occasional quotation 

 from an ancient chronicler of a passage, the critical authority 

 of which is not very minutely examined. Altogether the book 

 will be found useful by those who are going over the country 

 described, for whilst it is more portable, it also contains more 

 minute detail than " Siluria," and touches upon subjects not 

 alluded to in the other, in all respects, greater work. 



A Budget of Paradoxes. By Augustus De Morgan, F.R.A.S., 



and C.P.S. of Trinity College, Cambridge (Reprinted with 



the Author's Additions from the "Athenaeum "), London : 



Longmans. 1872. 



Many of our readers as they peruse the title of this book will 



recall with regret a quaint little figure, usually attired in abroad- 



VOL. III. (N.S.) R 



