EEYIEWS. 
307 
The work by Professor Green * must be classed anions the advanced 
manuals for the teaching of geological science, and is not only intended to 
serve those students who desire to know as much of the science as any man 
of culture may be reasonably expected to possess, but also to form a text- 
book for the school and lecture -room, the author feeling that any work on 
natural science which is intended for educational use, and to assist the mind 
to reflect and reason, must not only state clearly the results arrived at, but 
must also put forth the methods by which they have been obtained. This 
idea seems generally to pervade the work. In this volume the facts bearing 
on the fundamental groundwork of the science are only attempted, and 
include the principal points of lithological and dynamical geology. A short 
chapter on the aim and scope of geology, with a sketch of its rise and pro- 
gress, is followed by a description of the chief rock-forming minerals and a 
classification of rocks according to their two chief modes of origin, and their 
petrological characters ; the volcanic, metamorphic, and granitic rocks being 
separately described. Denudation and its results, both as forming new 
deposits, and its effects in the shaping of the surface, are fully treated, as 
also are the various changes in position which rocks have undergone since 
they were originally deposited. The last two chapters are devoted to the 
original fluidity and present condition of the interior of the earth, with 
some remarks on speculative geology, and how the various changes of 
climate inferred by the geologist have been brought about. The clear and 
philosophic manner in which the various subjects are generally treated, and 
the numerous original and well-selected illustrations, as also the many notes 
and references to other works where more detailed information can be 
found, will render this book a valuable addition to the other treatises on 
the science. 
BOTANICAL NAMES. f 
I T^OR the general reader this book will not have special interest, but for 
Jl the botanist it possesses many charms. It is -an account of how 
botany first came to be studied, even before the Christian era, and during 
the last eighteen centuries ; and added to this is a short description, in alpha- 
betical order, of the origin of the several terms that have formed generic 
titles. The first part of the book is the most interesting, as it is also the 
best done. The second part is the more imperfect, but its importance 
cannot be overrated. We have seen nothing in the shape of a popular 
account of the meaning of botanical expressions but that of Mrs. Lankester, 
who, it will be remembered, was the joint editor of the last edition of 
Sowerby’s botany. The account she has given, too, has to do with the 
significance rather of the popular names than the more specially scientific 
ones. Still it was unquestionably a very excellent addition to Dr. Syme’s 
labours. Mr. Alcock has endeavoured to give the exact meaning which 
* li Geology.” By Professor A. H. Green, M.A., F.G.S. London : 1876. 
t “ Botanical Names for English Readers.” By R. H. Alcock. London : 
L. Reeves & Co. 1876. 
