I877-.1 
Notices of Books. 
417 
observed before him. The real educational value of Natural 
History, the development of the power of observation, will utterly 
escape those whose studies are confined to books. 
The successive chapters of the work are devoted to a consi- 
deration of the cell as an individual ; the cell as a member of a 
group of similar cells; the construction of the plant out of cells ; 
the external form of plants ; the life of the plant ; special mor- 
phology and classification ; the changes in the vegetation of the 
globe during past geological epochs ; and botanical geography. 
The last division is illustrated with a map, showing the twenty- 
four regions into which the earth is divided by Griesbach in his 
“ Vegetation der Erde ” — a classification which Mr. Bennett 
thinks “ too unqualified,” both with regard to the boundaries be- 
tween the regions and the characters which distinguish them 
from one another. It is interesting to compare these regions 
with the geographical divisions of the animal world, as laid down 
by Mr. Wallace. We must own to a little surprise at finding 
Madagascar classed as an “ Oceanic Island,” along with the 
Azores, Madeiras, and Canaries. 
The chapter on vegetable palaeontology gives an accurate but 
necessarily very brief account of the florae of bygone ages. 
In the seCtion on the “ Life of the Plant,” the influence of 
temperature, light, &c., upon vegetation is carefully described. 
The work is throughout abundantly illustrated, and will, we 
hope, prove useful to those real students who seek not to “ pass,” 
but to know. 
The Geology of England and Wales. A Concise Account of the 
Lithological Characters, Leading Fossils, and Economic 
Products of the Rocks ; with Notes on the Physical Fea- 
tures of the Country. By Horace B. Woodward, F.G.S., 
of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. London : 
Longmans and Co. 
Many as have been the geological works recently put forth in 
England, there was still, we believe, room for a condensed work 
of reference on the geology of our own country that should be 
fully on a level with the present state of the science. This want 
Mr. Woodward has supplied in what we must pronounce a very 
satisfactory manner. His treatise is well arranged, comprehen- 
sive, accurate, and concise. All unnecessary verbiage has been 
carefully avoided, so that the student is not placed under the ne- 
cessity of seeking out the faCts he wants amidst a dreary waste 
of padding. Of speculation there is little. The author declares 
himself to be what is technically called a “ uniformitarian,” but 
he judiciously adds that “ in concluding that the physical forces 
have been the same throughout geological time ” we must guard 
VOL. VII. (N.S.) Z G 
