Lehrbuch der Petrographie

Abstract

THE appearance of a second edition of Prof. Zirkel's admirable “Lehrbuch der Petrographie” is an event of no little importance in the history of geological science. The part played by the author of this work in developing the methods of microscopic analysis, as applied to rocks, is too well known to require recapitulation in this place, and the long series of petrographical memoirs with which he has enriched geological literature—dealing with the rocks of the North American as well as with those of the European continent—are familiar to all students. While a great number of works treating of the microscopic study of rocks (including the author's own “Die mikroscopische Beschaffenheit der Mineralien und Gesteine ”) have appeared during the twenty-eight years which have elapsed since the first edition of the “Petrographie” was published, there is not one among them that quite occupies the place of that excellent treatise—with its wealth of information on the history and development of petrographical nomenclature.

Lehrbuch der Petrographie.

Von Dr. Ferdinand Zirkel, Ord. Professor der Mineralogie und Geognosie an der Universität Leipzig. Zweite gänzlich neu verfasste Auflage. Three vols. 8vo. Pp. 2619. (Leipzig: Engelmann, 1893–94.)