REVIEWS. 
91 
The preceding notice was intended for insertion in our last number, but 
bad to be omitted for want of space. We regret this the less as it enables 
us to notice at the same time the recently published handbook of the in- 
ventor of Physiography, Professor Huxley, which enables us to see more 
clearly what is his idea of the best mode of teaching the new science. It 
appears to us, after a careful perusal of his book, that the difference between 
Physiography and Physical Geography consists almost entirely in the form 
in which the facts and inferences are presented to the learner. There is 
literally nothing in the volume that might not, or indeed ought not, to be 
taught in any treatise on Physical Geography, although perhaps a greater 
development is given to the explanations of certain collateral matters, such 
as solar physics and the chemistry of the atmosphere and of water, than is 
absolutely necessary for geographical purposes ; but instead of arranging his 
subjects in the dry systematic form usually adopted, commencing with an 
account of the cosmical relations of the earth and gradually descending to 
details, he starts from the concrete example of the Thames and its valley, and 
works out from this comparatively narrow limit to the general phenomena of 
the earth and the universe. In fact the Thames being his text he preaches 
a sermon on the natural phenomena presented by the world of which it 
forms a part. It is easy to follow the sequence of thought involved in this 
operation. Thus, the geography of the Thames and its basin being described, 
the source of its waters naturally comes next into consideration, and in con- 
nection with this the phenomena of the great circulation of water on the sur- 
face of the earth are treated of ; the atmosphere as one link in the chain is 
then described, and the consideration of the composition of pure and natural 
waters leads directly to the explanation of the action of moving water, 
whether liquid or frozen, in disintegrating and degrading the land-surfaces 
over which it passes. The sea also is noticed as having its work to do in the 
same direction. On the other hand there are compensating agencies at work 
in the action of earthquakes and volcanoes, in the slow secular upheavals of 
the land, and in the action of living creatures, tending more or less directly to 
restore the equilibrium of land and water, and these having been discussed, 
the geological facts revealed by the study of the basin of the Thames can be 
profitably considered. Then, by a not unnatural transition from the Thames 
valley to what lies outside it, the author passes to a general consideration of 
the distribution of land and water on the surface of the globe, to an account 
of the figure and movements of the earth, and finally to a description of the 
phenomena presented by the sun, with especial reference to its influence, and 
that of the moon, upon the surface of our earth. As he says, “ the sim is 
revealed as the grand prime mover in all that circulation of matter which 
goes on, and has gone on for untold ages, within the basin of the Thames ; 
and the spectacle of the ebb and flow of the tide under London Bridge, 
from which we started, proves to be a symbol of the working of forces 
which extend from planet to planet, and from star to star, throughout the 
universe.” 
It is, in fact, this idea of starting from the familiar, and working outward 
to the larger conceptions, that is the ruling idea of Professor Huxley’s plan 
in this little work. Of course, it is impossible to tell how much of the 
credit of producing it is due to Professor Huxley, and how much to Mr. 
