34 REVIEWS. 
tives we receive the impressions of single-minded zoologists as to 
the natural scenery, the customs of the people, the habits and 
strange ways of beasts, birds and insects ; the works of Herndon, 
Gibbon, and Orton, are contributions to the geography of the 
Amazon valley; and in Fletcher and Kidder, and Burton, we see 
the human aspect of Brazilian life. To fill up these sketches, 
more or less fragmentary and random, we need a faithful study 
by a master with the details elaborated with scrupulous care. 
To begin with, we need to know how the South American con- 
tinent was built up, and the history of the changes by which it 
became so rich and fertile, as well as the physical and climatic 
peculiarities which have determined the genius of its inhabitants, 
and will hereafter influence their progress in civilization. The 
materials for such a work have been most industriously gathered 
by Professor Agassiz and his assistants, and the present volume, 
which we owe primarily to the liberal spirit of Mr. Thayer, and to 
Professor Hartt’s ardor in making a second, independent visit, 
assisted by generous friends in New York, is the first fruits of 
these new explorations. 
The volume before us does not touch specially upon the physi- 
cal geology of the Brazilian Andes and head waters of the 
Amazon. The author confines his studies mainly to the geology 
and geography of the coast provinces from Rio de Janeiro to 
Pernambuco. Meanwhile, he gives the results of others who have 
written on the geology of the whole empire, so that the work grad- 
ually and naturally enough expanded into a general view of the 
subject. As a necessary part of the author’s especial researches, 
the marine fauna of the shores between Rio and Pernambuco was 
quite fully investigated, and the animals collected were placed 
in the hands of experts for identification. Coral reefs of consid- 
erable extent were discovered midway between the cities of Rio 
and Bahia, the few reef-building species of corals being closely 
allied to those of the West Indiés, while the crabs, star-fishes and 
sea-urchins scattered over the reefs were largely West Indian spe- 
cies, showing that the whole asseinblage of these animals was & 
southerly extension of the West Indian fauna. Indeed, there is 
scarcely a break in the continuity of life as we go from the penin- 
sula of Florida to Cape Frio. The differences between the two 
extremes are often great, but the passage from the one to the 
o is graduated. The two American continents grew up like 
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