Abstract
THIS little volume is a praiseworthy attempt to popularise the study of Geology The descriptions and explanations are, for the most part, well done, and will be easily followed by those for whom the book has been written. The introductory “lectures,” which treat of the origin and classification of rocks, of geological agents, of waste and renovation, and of physical geography, are the most satisfactory. When the author comes to deal with the geological history of the English formations, the necessity for condensation often leads him into obscurity; but upon the whole he has managed to give a more readable account than will be found in Other introductory lesson books. As the lectures are addressed to a popular audience, we ought not, perhaps, to object to the fine writing in which the author is prone to indulge. But if his little book should come to a second edition (as we hope it may), he might tone down the “beauties,” and his work be none the worse, but all the better for the process. Especially would we advise him to expunge the absurd and incoherent “Geological Dream on Skiddaw,”and substitute for it a simple and intelligible summary, such as we are sure he is quite capable of giving. The illustrations are unequal; none of them are very creditable works of art, and some are so smudgy as to be almost illegible; but for the most part they serve their purpose.
Elementary Geology.
A Course of Nine Lectures, specially adapted for the use of Schools and Junior Students. By J. C. Ward. (London: Trübner & Co.)
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G., J. Elementary Geology . Nature 6, 514 (1872). https://doi.org/10.1038/006514a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/006514a0