290 Notices respecting Neiv Books. 



Phillips, Eutley, and C. Ward have also advanced this special branch 

 of geology. In fact the application of the microscope seems to be 

 an essential element of penological research, as it has afforded of 

 late years more precise information concerning the mineral consti- 

 tution and minute structure of rocks, than it was possible to acquire 

 by the older methods of research. 



It is true that most manuals of geology contain descriptions and 

 classifications of rocks ; but few English works have been specially 

 devoted to their study. Of these Pinkerton, Macculloch, the trans- 

 lations of Cotta and Jannetaz are well known ; with these excep- 

 tions, comparatively little has been done in this country to supply 

 elementary instruction in the systematic study of rocks, although 

 several good manuals have recently been published on the Continent. 

 To remedy this deficiency, Mr. Eutley has prepared the above text- 

 book for the guidance of students in this branch of science. 



Having specially devoted himself to this subject, and being fully 

 conversant with the works of foreign and British authors, he has 

 more or less plentifully interwoven original ideas and observations 

 with the information derived from these sources, in the general treat- 

 ment of the different subjects. 



The work is divided into two parts. The first, or rudiments of 

 petrology, comprises the nature of rocks, their origin and struc- 

 ture, mode of occurrence, the collecting and arrangement of them, 

 the method of preparing sections of rock for microscopic investi- 

 gation, followed by descriptions of the form, chemical composition, 

 megascopic and microscopic characters of the chief rock-forming 

 minerals, upon the identification of which the determination of the 

 precise character of a rock is necessarily based. The second part, 

 or descriptive petrology, contains the classification of rocks, in which 

 the author to some extent deviates from that commonly adopted. 

 The two principal divisions .are the Eruptive and Sedimentary, 

 the former being again divided into two classes — the vitreous and 

 the crystalline. Besides careful descriptions of the various rocks, 

 the author has prepared some suggestive and useful Tables (partly 

 after the manner of Senft), showing a scheme of deviations of cer- 

 tain rocks, as Granite, Trachyte, Diorite, Basalt. 



Limited to some extent as to space, which necessarily requires 

 that certain portions of the subject should be treated with brevity, 

 Mr. Eutley has nevertheless produced a very useful manual of 

 petrology, in which the various parts are clearly and concisely 

 described ; so that by a careful study of the book, assisted by the 

 examination of the chief rock-forming minerals, and supplemented 

 by some field-work, the student will be enabled to master this 

 somewhat difficult branch of geological science. 



Annual Report of the Department of Mines, Neiv South Wales, for 

 the Year 1877. 4to. Pp. 212. Eichards, Sydney; Triibner, 

 London, 1878. 



A geological map of about 240 square miles of Upper Palaeozoic 

 country indicates some of the steps attained by the progress of the 

 Geological Survey of New South Wales ; and the many elaborate 

 Reports by the relatively few Surveyors show their industry and 



