number of mammoths found frozen in Siberia. On this question again, an acquaintance with Lyell's 'Principles' would be of much service, but we cannot dwell on the subject. He seems to be at a loss, too, for any theory that will explain the existence of this intense cold, which he thinks came on so suddenly. Several astronomical theories are discussed, none of which he adopts. No diminution in the calorific power of the sun took place at this time, nor would any modification of the physical geography of the globe, that he is aware of, be adequate to produce this excessively cold climate; but this is the very direction in which he should have sought for an approximate explanation.

From considerations based upon a profound and comprehensive knowledge of the present physical geography of the globe, and the fluctuations in the relative position of sea and land indicated by the history of the sedimentary deposits, Sir Charles Lyell concludes that in past ages of the earth there might be, without reference to astronomical causes, such gradual changes brought about in the physical geography of the globe as to have at one period so high a temperature prevailing all over the earth as to banish all traces of snow and glaciers, even from the highest mountains; and at another such an intensity of cold as might render the whole earth uninhabitable.

In the last chapter of the work M. Figuier treats of the origin of the human race, and of the Asiatic deluge. He does not believe in the ape-origin of man. The first man was placed on the earth by the Creator in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates. "There is no doubt," he says, "that primitive man passed through a period in which he had to contend for existence with ferocious beasts, and to live in a savage state in the woods and savannas where Providence had placed him; but this period of his existence came to an end, and man, an eminently social being, by combining in groups animated by the same interests and the same desires, soon found means to intimidate the animals, to triumph over the elements, to protect himself from the innumerable perils which surround him, and to subdue to his rule the other inhabitants of the earth." This period in man's history, as it is held by the author, is the subject of one of his illustrations which we have selected for insertion, not, however, as a representation of what may be supposed to have been his appearance at that stage of his existence, but as an example of the admirable illustrations accompanying the work. It is impossible, in the present state of our knowledge, to "restore" man as he appeared along with the hairy elephant, the hyena, and the cave-bear. M. Figuier then describes the cave-deposits, peat-beds, shell-mounds, and lacustrine habitations, and discusses the evidence of the contemporaneity of man and certain extinct animals.

* P. 407.

The Noachian deluge was the result, he conjectures, of "the upheaval of a part of the long chain of mountains, which are a prolongation of the Caucasus. The earth opening by one of the fissures made in its crust in the course of cooling, an eruption of volcanic matter escaped through the enormous crater so produced. Masses of watery vapour or steam accompanied the lava discharged from the interior of the globe, which, being first dissipated in clouds and afterwards condensed, descended in torrents of rain, and the plains were drowned with volcanic mud. The inundation of the plains over an extensive radius was the instantaneous effect of this upheaval, and the formation of the volcanic cone of Ararat, and the vast plateau on which it rests, altogether 17,323 feet above the sea, the permanent result."*

With this extract we must close our notice of M. Figuier's 'World before the Deluge,' a book which will probably be regarded in future ages as a fair illustration of the mixed views held by the various thinkers of our days on geological and palæontological questions.

Every reader will find something to his taste, and the feelings of none will be outraged by too great one-sidedness. There is the plate of the Garden of Eden, with our first parents and Cain, and the Biblical account of the Deluge for those who cling to tradition, whilst there are calm discussions, well-arranged data, and the beautiful illustrations to support a belief in the antiquity of man and his contemporaneity with the great extinct mammifera. Leaving M. Figuier to render these views consistent with each other, we pass on to his 'Vegetable World,'† an exquisite work, which has just been issued as a companion to the World before the Deluge.'

If excellent paper, legible type, beautiful illustrations, and good printing be any recommendation to a book, this work should have an extensive sale. The first part of the volume treats of the structure of the various organs of plants and their functions. Commencing with the root, the various kinds of which are fully described, it passes on to the stem; the varieties, structure, and mode of growth of acrogenous, endogenous, and exogenous stems are clearly explained; buds, boughs, and branches successively engage the reader's attention; a brief notice of the different modes of grafting is given, and the structure, functions, and different forms of the leaf are described in a pleasing manner. 'Leaves," he says, "transform themselves into other organs with wonderful facility. It is, in fact, by modification of the leaves that nature produces many essential organs in the life of plants." This law of Morphology is often inaccurately stated.

* P. 418.

The Vegetable World: being a History of Plants, with their Botanical Descriptions and Peculiar Properties.' 446 Engravings and 24 Full Page Illustrations, chiefly from Nature. Chapman & Hall, 1867.

P. 83.

The converse of the first sentence of the preceding extract is frequently observed. A leaf is never transformed into any other organ; but where we should expect stamens, carpels, petals, &c., leaves are often abnormally developed. All the organs of the plant are formed upon a plan, of which the leaf is taken as the type. This doctrine of Goethe has been long recognized by all botanists. And tracing the homologues of the leaf in the various forms assumed by flowers and fruit, constitutes one of the charms of botanical study to the young student.

Exhalation, respiration, and circulation in plants are then glanced at by the author, before proceeding to describe the various parts of the flower and their functions.

The different kinds of inflorescence and varieties of fruits and seeds come under review; and lastly, the interesting phenomena of fecundation and germination are investigated, bringing the portion devoted to organography to a close. The chapter on fecundation is extremely interesting, and is written in a popular style. "When the existence of sexual differences in vegetables was first propounded, the discovery produced general astonishment. If the most convincing proofs had not established it, if the commonest observation had not allowed every one to verify its reality, it would certainly have been classed among the most singular inventions ever issued from a poet's imagination; but the proofs were convincing. The demonstration of the existence of sexual organs in vegetables became a brilliant and unexpected fact, exhibiting a wonderful analogy between animals and plants, filling up in part the gulf which had hitherto existed between the two great classes of organic beings, yielding an inexhaustible fund of reflection and comparison to naturalists and thinking men.

"The ancients had very vague ideas on this subject. Yet we learn from Herodotus that in his time the Babylonians already distinguished two sorts of Date Palmes. They sprinkled the pollen of one on the flower of the other, in order to perfect the production of the fruit of that valuable tree.

"Cesalpin, an Italian philosopher, physician, and naturalist, who, in the 16th century, was professor of medicine and botany at Pisa, remarked that certain sets of mercurialis and hemp remained sterile, while others were productive. He considered the first as the male sets, and the second as the female. In the 17th century, Nehemiah Grew, a learned English Fellow of the Royal Society of London, published in 1682 an anatomy of plants; above all, Jaques Camerarius, a German botanist, born at Tübingen, showed the precise use of the two essential parts of the flower, and the part that each plays in producing the fecundation of germs. In a letter now become celebrated, De Sexu Plantarum, published in 1694,

VOL. IV.

* P. 177.

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