4 



The Irish Naturalist, 



January, 



human history of Leinster, are consequent on an earth-fold 

 that formed part of the Caledonian continent. The 

 royal tombs of Rathcroghan in Roscommon are placed 

 on the high slabs of the limestone plateau, where it is free 

 from encumbrances of glacial drift, so that they have no 

 rivals in the landscape. De Courcy's castle on the 

 rock of Fergus is planted on an igneous dyke, defiant of the 

 sea ; and the keep of Carrigogunncl, in Limerick, crowns the 

 ash and lava of a dead volcano. 



The old trade-routes along the eskers deserve investi- 

 gation, and the rias of the coast have tempted equally the 

 Mediterranean races and the Norsemen from their viks and 

 fjords. A typical fjord, with huge glacial terraces at its 

 head, remains to be described in Killary Harbour ; and the 

 cirques of the Comeraghs await the young geographer 

 who will pitch his tent among them. 



Lastly, we may note that Miss Newbigin's essay on 

 " Modern Geography " in the Home University Library 

 has shown to thousands of readers the lines on which such 

 studies may be pursued. Albrecht Penck's " Morphologic 

 der Erdoberflache," W. M. Davis's works on Physical 

 Geography (particularly his " Practical Exercises," with 

 its atlas for personal development), and W. H. Hobbs's 

 manual on " Earth Features and their Meaning," will fix 

 attention on the evolution of surface -forms. L. W. Lyde's 

 "Continent of Europe" shows how such features have 

 affected civilisation in the region that concerns us closely ; 

 while H. J. Mackinder, with his exceptional feeling for the 

 physical foundations and the imperial outcome, appeals to 

 our knowledge of home-countries in his " Britain and the 

 British Seas." Matters may be narrowed down b}^ passing 

 on to Miss J. B. Reynolds's " Elementary Regional Geo- 

 graphy of Ireland," or O. J. R. Howarth's " Oxford 

 Geography of Ireland," or A. M. Davies's Geography of 

 the British Isles." A S3^stematic course of such reading, 

 in the company of a good atlas and local large-scale 

 maps, may be commended to groups formed within our 

 field-clubs, and the view gained of Ireland in relation to 

 her surroundings may prove especially fruitful at the 

 present stimulating time. 



Royal College of Science, Dublin. 



