As a reference-book for mineralogy, the following treatise is unsurpassed:—
Text-Book of Mineralogy. By Edward S. Dana. 1883. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
And, as an introduction to the study of minerals, and, through these, to the study of rocks,—
First Lessons in Minerals. Science Guide No. XIII. By Mrs. E. H. Richards.
cannot be too highly recommended. Teachers will find this little primer of 46 pages invaluable with young children, and with all who have had no previous training in chemistry.
As an admirable continuation of the work begun in these pages, teachers are referred to Professor Shaler’s “First Book in Geology.” In this our brief sketch of the geological agencies is amplified and beautifully illustrated; and rarely have the wonderful stories of the river, ocean-beach, glacier, and volcano been told so effectively. In the chapter on the history of life on the globe the main outlines of historical geology are skillfully brought within the comprehension of beginners. The directions to teachers are fully in accord with the modern methods and ideas, and are a very valuable feature of the book.
DYNAMICAL GEOLOGY.
When we think of the ocean with its waves, tides, and currents, of the winds, and of the rain and snow, and the vast net-work of rivers to which they give rise, we realize that the energy or force manifested upon the earth’s surface resides chiefly in the air and water—in the earth’s fluid envelope and not in its solid crust. And it would be an easy matter to show that, with the exception of the tidal waves and currents, which of course are due chiefly to the attraction of the moon, nearly all this energy is merely the transformed heat of the sun. Now the air and water are two great geological agencies, and therefore the geological effects which they produce are traceable back to the sun.