REVIEWS. 
181 
MR. DARWIN’S GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.* 
I N publishing the volume of “ Geological Observations” now before us* 
Mr. Darwin has performed a feat parallel to that of the elder Mr. 
Shandy, whieh, as that gentleman’s son tells us, was calculated to make the 
man in the moon beat his breast in despair, and apostrophize the u eternal 
Maker of all beings ” to know why the moonites should be incapable of such 
ingenious flights. He has brought out a second edition of a book of which 
the first never appeared. The volume, in fact, contains a reprint, apparently 
without alteration, of two treatises published by Mr. Darwin shortly after his- 
return from the exploring voyage of the Beagle ; namely, his u Geological Ob- 
servations on Volcanic Islands” and his u Observations on South America,” 
which appeared respectively in 1844 and 1846. 
Both these works have now been out of print for some time, and as the 
observations described in them are of the highest importance, and the books 
themselves are constantly referred to in all general treatises on geology, 
their author has certainly conferred a boon upon students, whose only 
chance of obtaining them was the picking up of an occasional second-hand 
copy, by republishing them in so convenient a form. The only thing we can 
wish is that, as the knowledge of the volcanic rocks has made such pro- 
digious strides of late years, Mr. Darwin had appended to the first of these 
treatises such notes as would have sufficed to bring the statements contained 
in the text into accordance with modern views and nomenclature. The 
maps and illustrations are the same as in the original edition. 
THE PUZZLE OF LIFE.f 
T HE object of the author of this little book is to furnish children with a 
sketch of the general facts of geology and palaeontology, and the meaning 
of its title may be explained as follows : The various fossils which give us 
a notion ofthe succession of life upon the earth are compared to the “ pieces ” 
of a dissected puzzle, and the outline of geological facts furnishes its 
“ framework.” The idea is a happy one and will recommend itself to 
children ; and we are bound to say that Mr. Nicols has carried out his idea 
remarkably well, and produced a work which will do much to spread sound 
notions upon the gradual development of our earth and its inhabitants to the 
condition in which we now see them. Here and there, in his anxiety to 
make a point, Mr. Nicols travels a little beyond his tether, as when he says 
u that it is not untrue to call coal ‘ compressed sunlight,’ ” a remark which 
* “ Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands and parts of South 
America, visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle .” By Charles 
Darwin, M.A., F.R.S. Second Edition, with maps and illustrations. 8vo. 
London : Smith, Elder & Co. 1876. 
f u The Puzzle of Life, and how it has been put together ; a short History 
of Vegetable and Animal Life upon the Earth from the earliest times, includ- 
ing an account of Prehistoric Man, his weapons, tools, and works.” By 
Arthur Nicols, F.R.G.S. Sm. 8vo. London : Longmans. 1877. 
