21 AUGUST 1880, Page 21

Outlines of Physiography. Part I. By W. Lawson. (Oliver and

Boyd.)—Here are twelve chapters on the main chemical, physical, and biological facts concerning our globe. Chemistry, geology, geo- graphy, meteorology, physical' geography, and biology, each contri- bute something to the one hundred and fifty pages before us. The book is necessarily concise, but travels over so large an extent of country, and seeks out so many byways, that we fear many of its statements and descriptions involve an amount and quality of know- ledge on the part of the reader which cannot be taken for granted. Bat so far as we have tested the work, it possesses the merits of accuracy and of judicious selection of material.