4 APRIL 1891, Page 28

The Autobiography of the Earth. By the Rev. H. N.

Hutchinson. (E. Stanford.)—" A brief sketch of historical geology" is what the author has aimed at giving us in this volume. The earth tells, as we know, its own story, at least to those who are com- petent to read the signs which are, as it were, characters of its language. One might even make out the" Seven Ages," a certain latitude being allowed, in the rock of the Archtean era, the Slates, the Old Red Sandstone, the Mountain Limestone, the New Red Sandstone, the Oolites and Chalk (if these may be compressed into one), and finally, "The Ice Age and Man." Of course this is only a fancy, but it may help to illustrate the method which Mr. Hutchinson has pursued in this most interesting book.