The World before the Deluge. By Louis Figuier. A New
Edition.
The geological portion carefully revised, and much original matter added. By H. W. Bristow, F.R.S. (Chapman and Hall.)—This new edition of a work upon which so much artistic, talent has been expended deserves special notice.. An English gentleman of satisfactory position has undertaken to mark the distinction between fact and conjecture, which the fervid imagination of M. Figuier left a little obscure in the
original volume. But Mr. Bristow confines himself in his corrections to the sphere of demonstrated results ; in the region of speculation, where opinions may lawfully differ, he makes no attempt to clip the wings of M. Figuier. The latter gentleman is allowed fall liberty of hypothesis on such subjects as the thickness of the earth's crust, and the connection between the seventh chapter of Genesis and "the Asiatic deluge "' which resulted from the upheaval of part of the Caucasian range. On the whole, then, we may say of the present edition of this elaborate work that the general reader will find in it a_good risme of geological facts, and much of that romance of science wilieh facilitates the acquisition of knowledge in the ease of the majerity; and that should the general reader grow weary of his reading, he can always fall back on the thirty ideal landscapes, designed by .Riou, all . of which are striking, and some, as we observed in a former notice, of
remarkable vigour and beauty. These, together with the profusion, of wood engravings illustrative of primeval animals and plants, give the volume an artistic; value quite independent of its scientific .merits. •
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