REVIEWS. 
We arc "-lad f o find Mr. Piige himself entertains an opinion of this kind, for 
lie says that it has been liis aim " to improve ratlier than to enlarge — to keep 
the volume abreast with the latest diseovcries and advancing views of our 
leading geologists, and yet to prevent it from exceeding the limits of a com- 
))endious Text Book." We hope Mr. Page will rigidly adhere to these views, 
for we should be sorry indeed to see so good and useful a book run to seed. 
Amongst the new matter introduced of importance are the remarks upon the 
characters and structure of the Himantopterus, the Pterygotus, and Eurypterus, 
illustrated by some very fairly executed woQdcuts, and a fuller notice of the 
oolitic mannnals than appeared in the first edition. 
A woodcut of the seal discovered by Mr. Page in the Pleistocene clays of the 
Clyde is another new addition. Mr. Page has also given us the improved 
classification of the members of the Old Red Sandstone, in accordance wi( h the 
late observations which Sir Roderick Murehisou has brought together with so 
much labour and acumen, and has grooped with his usual skillfulness of general- 
ization. We have also the residts of Dr. Bigsby's laborious revision of the 
classification of the North American Paleozoic rocks ; and two more definite 
and comprehensive lists of plants and animals, instead of the mere outline-notes 
of the former edition. 
It wovdd, however, be supererogatoiy of us to extend our notice or criticisms 
of a book which, from its usefulness and its moderate price, is sure of extensive 
circulation, and will probably also very generally replace and supplant the 
former edition in the hands of its former readers ; and for this very reason will 
have its merits and demerits (how^ever few these last may be) so fully criticised 
and exposed by others, that neither will escape observation and conunent. 
Hence we may fairly be content to close our notice with the advice to the 
teacher, the scholar, and the student, that they can not spend their money, nor 
their tune upon a better book. 
A Week's Walk in Gower, from the pen of Dr. Bevan, who is knowii to our 
readers from his contributions to this journal, is written in a fanciful style, and 
tells us what the author saw, and what we shoidd see if we spent the same 
amount of time in the peregrination of that smaU peninsula of South Wales. 
The reviewer's task may generally be simdizcd to that of Tom Moore's " child 
at a feast," who but " sips of a sweet, then flies olf to the rest." And true to 
the simile we have selected, and in this case leaving all those other attrac- 
tions of " ii-on-bound coasts with glorious sea-views, picturesque little valleys 
and inland dells, old churches, still older castles and camps, and druidical 
remains," so pleasing and attractive to other tastes, we fly at once to the 
geological nectar of the mellifluous sweets of Gower, and take our readers to the 
famous Bacon and Mitchin Holes — two caves which have made Gower famous. 
Dr. Bevan tells us to get a guide to them if we can, and, next to that, 
considers the most important thing " to get good bearings ; for what with 
devious lanes and sand-diifts, it is by no means an easy place to find, for the 
caves themselves, though large, all face the sea, and are so overhung by the 
cliffs that it is altogether impossible to see them from the land. I have found 
one of the best landmarks to the Bacon Hole to be Pennard Church tower, 
which is almost m a straight line with it. The Bacon Hole, more particidarly, 
is an extremely mterestiug place, as bones are still to be procured ; but a pick- 
axe is re([uired, the ordinary geological hanuner being of little avail against the 
hard breccia in which they are enveloped. The interior has been systematically 
quarried and blasted to obtain the bones, most of which are to be seen in the 
Swansea Museum ; but the details of the operation, and of the successive 
layers that were exposed, are so very instructive, that I cannot help borrowing 
vor.. 11. ^ c c 
