Notices of Books. 
259 
1878.J 
Italy have, we may say, no coal-deposits.” Here is a serious 
error; the coal-beds of Russia are large and important. He 
proceeds : — “ Of other parts of the world America is the most 
richly gifted ; while Australia possesses the least.” Here we 
must again convid him of error ; there are undoubtedly regions 
totally without coal, whilst Australia contains very considerable 
deposits. 
The view that the desert of Sahara was once a sea, com- 
municating through the gulf of Gabes with the ocean, is by no 
means universally accepted. 
The author’s fifth chapter, on “ Ice,” deals with the interesting 
and complicated question of glaciation. We have first the old 
dispute as to whether the climate of Europe is improving or 
deteriorating. M. Pilar evidently takes the latter view. He 
writes : — “ We may, on the contrary, attribute to a slow cooling 
the increased extent of the Swiss glaciers which from the twelfth 
century have more and more obstructed the ancient passes of 
the mountains, destroying forests and habitations, and reducing 
the temperature of the surrounding country. In France and 
Belgium the culture of the vine has ceased in many regions 
where formerly its products were of great importance. The 
disappearance of pines in Ireland indicates that Britain also 
experiences this decrease of temperature. But the most striking 
proof of a considerable cooling is furnished us by the dwindling 
and decay of the birch forests of Iceland. This island, eminently 
volcanic, was in the middle ages the seat of an advanced civili- 
sation. The magnificent woods were peopled with numerous 
animals, and the nightingale made music in the groves of this 
island now ravaged by cold and fire.” This passage he sub- 
stantially repeats elsewhere, maintaining that the temperature of 
the northern hemisphere has been decreasing since A.D. 124.8, 
whilst that of the southern has been improving. Upon these 
supposed changes is based to a great extent his adhesion to the 
famous theory of Adhemar. We must therefore examine the 
alleged fads a little more closely. The Swiss glaciers, so far 
from having been gradually extending since the twelfth century, 
are now well known to be shrinking, and have in many striking 
cases a much less extent than when Switzerland was first 
recognised as the “ play-ground of Europe.” As regards Ire- 
land, where fuschias and myrtles — and, according to the author, 
even palm trees — flourish in the open air, it is very certain that 
the disappearance of pines, if a historical fad, cannot be due to 
a fall of temperature. The position and circumstances of Ice- 
land are so peculiar that the decay of the birch forests there 
is not a sufficient proof of the deterioration of the climate. The 
demands of the inhabitants for fuel, the addon of the tremendous 
volcanic outbursts which desolated the island, and the ravages 
of goats, may amply account for the decline of these forests, 
and when trees are once swept away from any country, by what 
