To suit his book Mr. Firsoff draws his own boundaries
of Breadalbane from the foot of Loch Tay westwards to Ben Lui and from Glen Lyon southwards to the Braes of Balquhiddcr and Loch Earn.
After a preliminary survey of the area he literally gets down to bedrock—the Dal- radian Schists. He is a geologist first and foremost, and some readers may think his enthusiasm at times unrestrained and too erudite for a work of this kind. Thus, having led us up a ben in a blizzard, he can turn and ask, "What is the meaning of it all? This Einsteinesque tridimensional bubble-film expanding in time with the velocity of light. The faster we move, the slower the time," In a chapter on the Braes of Lorne he writes of almandine garnets, staurolite, kyanite and sillimanite. Then, how will Gaelic scholars receive his rendering of Meall nan Tarmachan as " M on- adknock of Ptarmigan"? These are, however, only minor outcrops, for Mr. Firsoff is not only a geologist but also a botanist, photo- grapher and artist with a seeing eye and reflective mind. He knows his country well and writes interestingly of his wanderings,
The work is illustrated from drawings and photographs by the author. By skilful camera work lit has retained atmosphere and feeling of distance in the photographs.
T. S.
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