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278
Reviews—Birmingham Philosophical Society, Etc.

Mr. G. Hookharm, M.A. of Sutton Coldfield, contributes a thoughtful paper on “The Study of Science as an Instrument of Higher Education” By “higher education” Mr. Hookham means the education which should be begin when the mind has been disciplined at school or college by a course of formal study. Habits of thought once gained, the aim of each mind should be to assimilate to itself truth us to the constitution of the universe. This can only he done effectually by individual devotion to same special science. It should, of course, he remembered that every such sciouco has relations with the whole domain on which enquiries can be proseenicd. Results attained by others in other departments may be known; but mere accumulation of knowledge of results is not ‘higher education.” This can only be secured by the mind coming into contact with the realities of the universe, And what is higher education for the individual mind helps ea also the general enrichment of Limauity in knowledge. This is, Mr. Hooktiam thinks, especially exemplified in the beneficial influence which the German Universities, in which the studies are wholly real, are exercising upon the world.

The paper on “The Place of Archæology in Science,” by Mr. James Kenward, F.S.A., of Harborne, is a most readable one. In & very broad sense, Mr. Kenward remarks, all sciences which concern themselves with the operations of nature, or with the thoughts, words, and deeds of men, in past times, may be looked upon as parts of a grand Archæology—the Archæology of the universe and of man, But his concern is with Archæology “as limited to human monuments and human relics; as a study and a summary of the remains—written, graven, sculptured, painted, built up, formed and finished in any mode—which appeal to us from palace and pyramid, and temple, and cave, and cairn; from book, and manuscript, and oral tradition.” Besides being in itself of interest to all for whom the past of human history is a "divine drama,” Archæology is a valuable auxiliary to all other sciences. The progress of none of them can be estimated without an appeal to if. Mr. Kenward’s attractively written sketch of the development of Archæology ought to be widely read.

H. N. Grimley.

The Superficial Geology of the Country adjoining the Coasts of South-West Lancashire. By C. E. De Rance, F.G.S. Loudon: Longmans and Co. 8vo., 17s.

This Geological Survey Memoir describes in detail the surface deposits of the low plains lying between the estuaries of the Mersey and the Ribble, and also in a more general way the same beds as far to the north as Morecambe Bay, southwards to the Dee, and eastwards to Blackburn, Bolton, ant Manchester.

It contains 139 pages, including a few simple woodcuts, is bound in a paper cover, and is issued by Her Majesty's Stationery Office at the modest price of seventeen shillings, a fact which must be equally aggravating to the officers of the Geological Survey and to the public.

‘The anther commences by describing the physical geography of the district—a plain but little above the sea, and sloping down to it, with