The Portland daily press., 1875-04-10
FERNS $500 PER ANNUM. IN ADYANCE.

IHE GLACIAL EPoCH OF OUR GLOBE. BY Alex
| Braun Boston, Estes & Lauriat. For sale by
| Dresser, Mcclellan & Co.
| No IA of the ''Half.Hour Recreatiops in
| Popular Science, though it devotes too much
space 10 prehmlnarles to be quite consistent
with the title, yet gives clear idea of the data
| on which the theory of glacial epoch is
| founded. After glance at the history of the
earth before the cold period began, the author
| concludes it was marked by gradual dminu-
| tion of heat, and that the cold came on sud-
| denly, as it was Immediately preceded by a
| time very much resembling tho present in
climate, flora and fauna
The idea of glaciers of vast extent was
reached in the attempt to account for the
presence of boulders hundreds of miles from
any like rock. Ihe popular idea that the
erratcs were transported by glaciers gave a
hint to De Charpentier, Venetz, Agassiz, and
others; and study of the Swiss glaciers led
them to the conclusion that these ice rivers
once extended far up the Jura mountains and
there deposited those immense boulders; and
further, that Northern Europe, North Ameri-
can, and even South America had also been
the scene of a glacial epoch. All this is told
with minutene5s of detail which IS some
what wearis0me when we remember that it is
not what the tltle-page promised u.s. When
the glacial epoch is once reached however, wo
forget that we were inclined to criticise. The
author discusses the several theories to account
for the downward movement of the ice and
adopts Mr.. Tyndall's of "fracture and regela-
tion." AS to the cause of the glacial period or.
rafhar of tho fyUO nario6l which
ted by one of milder climate, he offers no
theory, but states in brief those held by differ
ent scientists. He sets $4,000 years as the
limit of the cold periods, differing from Mr..
Lyell, who estimates the duration at 224,0OO
BY Mr.. Braun's calculation, he puts the end
of the glacial epoch no farther back than 95H
B. c. aud suggests that the universal traditions
of deluge may have been caused by the floods
incident on the meeting of these immense beds
of ice. Taken as a whole, the essay does not
compare with some chapters in Gekie, on the
same subject, though it has the advantage of
being shorter and more popular in form.
NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN. BY A. de Quatre-
FACES. New York; D. Appleton s. Co. For sale
by Bailey & Noyes.
The author of this entertaining course of leo
bulcS W Lu6 Ineu OF NluCeuueS Is pIU-
fessor of anatomy and ethnology In the
museum of natural history 10 Paris. His early
study of medicine gave him an acquaintance
with the structure and physiology of man
which admirably fits him for discussing the
present subject; and his knowledge of zoology
in general furnishes him with the means Of
that comparison between men and the lower
animals which he takes as the basis Of his
work. The axiom with which he begins is
that $50 far as the body is concerned, man is
an animal, no more, no less" Believing that
man is subject to the same general laws as
other organic beings, he proves the unity of the
haman species in the same way as he proves
that of the canine species. On the antiquity of
man and his origin, the author offers nothing
new, but what he says on these subjects, as
well as on the Iuoral, intellectual and physical
characteristics of the human races, Is said 80
clearly and simply, and with such aptness OF
illustration, that the book would be interesting
to the least scientific. 1t is furnished with
6ne series of engravings, representing the diff
ferent races, and also the most famous fossil
shells. The notes appended to the volume
were prepared by Prof. Gill of the Smithsonian
Institute, and give those opinions of Mr.. OAR
win aud Mr.. Huley which are opposed TO M.
de Quatrefages' making the work a valuable
compendium of the old and the new ideas on
the origin of life.