Notes on Books, Music, Works of Art, &c. THE GREAT ICE AGE.* It is with peculiar pleasure that we announce the issue of a new, and thoroughly revised, edition of Mr. Geikie's truly important and valuable work on the "Great Ice Age and its relation to the Antiquity of Man,”—a work the importance and value of which it is impossible to over-rate, and which has become, as it eminently deserves to be, the standard book on the subject to which it is devoted. 66 Mr. Geikie in the present edition has carefully revised all he had previously written, and has made vast additions here and there, bringing down his records of researches to the present time, and making his volume more than ever the essential of every library. His own and kindred researches result as he says in putting it beyond doubt that man lived in Britain as early at least as that interglacial mild period which preceded the climax of glacial cold." Many of the opinions held by Mr. Geikie in his first edition have been considerably expanded and strengthened, others have been slightly modified, and so numerous and important are the fresh facts brought forward that the work becomes almost a new one. Among these expansions the account of the glacial deposits of England has been re-written and embraces the results of very recent personal examination of important districts. This gives vast value to the work and adds materially to its usefulness. We can only recommend those who already possess the first edition, to also secure this; and those who do not possess it, we emphatically advise to procure the present one. We ought to add that the volume is beautifully illustrated, and is " got up" in the excellent manner that characterises all Messrs. Daldy, Isbister, & Co.'s publications. * The Great Ice Age, and its relation to the Antiquity of Man. By JAMES GEIKIE, F.R.S., &c. London: Daldy, Isbister, & Co.. 56, Ludgate Hill. 1 vol. 8vo., 1877. pp. 624, illustrated. THE EXPANSE OF HEAVEN.* MR. PROCTOR, whose "Border Land of Science" we some time ago had the pleasure of noticing in these columns, is one of the most gifted and enlightened of writers upon astronomical subjects, and his books have always a high and noble aim, and a masterly mode of treatment, to recommend them. The "Expanse of Heaven" is one of the best written and most deeply learned books we know, and it tells well not only for it, but for the taste of the public that it has now reached its third edition. Of the extent and expansive character of the volume before us, some idea may be gained by the bare enumeration of the titles of the essays of which it is composed. These are "A Dream that was not all a Dream," "The Sun," "The Queen of Night," "The Evening Star," "The Ruddy Planet," "Life in the Ruddy Planet," "The Prince of Planets," "Jupiter's family of Moons," "The Ring-girdled Planet,' "Newton and the Law of the Universe," "The discovery of two giant Planets,' "The lost Comet," "Visitants from the Star Depths," "Whence come the Comets? "The Comet families of the giant Planets," "The Earth's journey through Showers," "How the Plane's grew," """The flight of Light," "A cluster of Suns,"" Worlds ruled by coloured Suns," Worlds lit by coloured Suns," "The King of Suns," "The Depths of Space," "Charting the Star Depths,' ," "The Star-depths astir with Life," "The Drifting Stars," and "The Milky Way." Upon each of these branches of his grand subject, Mr. Proctor has brought to bear a widely extended knowledge, a power of far-seeing and of grasping atoms of fact invisible to less gifted eyes, and an ability to render intelligible to every reader the results of years of research, and to render lucid the most abstruse brauches of his subject. There is a devotional feeling-a pure religious spirit--pervading the whole work and giving it that healthy tone that such a subject commands. It forms the best manual of Astronomy we have seen, and is eminently calculated not only to awaken a love for scientific pursuits, but to show that those pursuits harmonise with, and form an essential part of, our devotional studies. Well does Mr. Proctor remark that "it has not been given to man to solve all the mysteries that surround him, and it may well be questioned whether it will ever be in his power to solve that great mystery, the origin of the wonderful scheme of worlds of which our earth is a member. Yet there are steps which a man can fairly hope to make on the path leading towards the great secret..... Increase of knowledge of His universewhether of its various parts or of the various periods of its history-will enhance our conceptions of His power and wisdom, though still leaving those conceptions infinitely poor and feeble compared with the reality." The book, we repeat is faultless, and we cordially recommend it either as a gift book, or as a valuable acquisition to the library. The Expanse of Heaven, a series of Essays on the Wonders of the Firmament. By R. A. PROCTOR, B.A. London: H. S. King & Co. 1 vol. crown 8vo., 1876, pp. 806. Third Edition. D 6 & 8 1, 2, 3 Ring of Pope Pius II. 4 Roman Ring, with letters Q.S. P.Q. (Quintanus Senatus Populusque). 5 Roman Ring, from the Catacombs. Early Christian Rings. 7 Dial Ring. 9 Reliquary Ring, Chichester. 10 Saxon Ring. FINGER, AND THUMB, RINGS. |