NOTICES OF PUBLICATIONS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4536, 4 October 1875, Page 3

NOTICES OF PUBLICATIONS.

BRADSHAW'S GUIDE.* We have received a copy of the first “ Bradshaw ” which has been issued in New Zealand, and really it is a more than creditable production. In an article the editor makes the work speak for itself thus : —“ Whether the occasion makes the man or the man the occasion, we shall not here discuss, but it is quite evident that there has hitherto been no occasion for a ‘ Cook ’ or a ‘ Murray ’ to make guides for the genus tourist to New Zealand, and that in spite of the fact that the grand old captain of the first name was guide to us all who have followed his brave Endeavour, modern Cooks and Murrays, excellent though they he as guides, are not altogether pioneers, for where w>.uld either of them be without their Bradshaw ? Modesty forbids our pursuing this question further—since loud praise of one’s grandfather is apt to be suspected—but the observation we proceed to make is this ; that the hopeful descendant, our Mr. Bradshaw, finding that his lines are fallen in pleasant places, and that at present he has not too many of them, intends to outdo his predecessor by combining with information as to roads, railways, steamers, and coaches, particulars of the country through which such roads and railways pass—hints which may prove useful to the traveller, whether his object be pleasure or health, science or wealth, and so to render the book an indispensable vade mecum .” This object has been admirably carried out. Time-tables, rates of fares, tables of distances are given of all the New Zealand railways, and with a view to obtaining scrupulous accuracy, telegraphic corrections were made down to the hour of publication. Coach time-tables are given in the same manner, also time-tables of all steamers belonging to every company which has anything to do with the colonial and interprovincial trade. Next follows an official directory, containing every possible particle of information relating to the Ceneral and Provincial Governments of the colony, but the editor does not tell us when Sir Julius Vogel will be back, which is a rather serious omission on the part of a gentleman who evidently has a knowledge of all things at his fingers’ ends. After a list of the present justices of the peace comes an excellent item, viz., an exhaustive postal guide, giving the closing time of mails at every postoffice throughout New Zealand, with full particulars as to English mails, money orders, the telegraph system, &c., and there is also a map of each island. The Customs tariff of the colony also finds a place, and then follows a sketch in detail of each province, naming each town, its population, principal institutions, chief officers and municipal magnates. The foregoing will give an idea of the° extent and variety of valuable information the little hook contains ; and when it is stated that it is published at the nominal price of Is., those who have a knowledge of the difficulty in collecting materials for the pub-

* Era us haw's Guide to New Zealand, Wellington, M.Z.: Dalgliosli ami ltd (I, proprietors and publishers. New Zealand Times Company, printers. October 1875.

lication of such a work, and the large-amount of highly-paid labor required, will agree that Messrs. Dalgleish and Reid’s “Bradshaw’s Guide,” is a marvel of cheapness. CLASS-BOOK OP ELEMENTARY GEOLOGY. We have received a copy of Captain F. W. Hutton’s “ Class-book of Elementary Geology,” from its New Zealand publisher, Mr. Bowden, of the Educational Depository, Wellington, and have much satisfaction in saying that it is in every respect a valuable contribution to the cause of scientific education in this colony. Captain Hutton is too well known here to need any commendation from us. He is an enthusiastic geologist, and an admirable teacher, judging from his class-book. He says in his preface : “ This little book is intended to meet the want, in the colonies, of a class-book of geology which, while it- enters with sufficient fulness into those generalities of the science that apply to all countries, omits details of the geological structure of Britain or America, such as fill the greater part of other text-books written hi the English language, and which add greatly to their price without being of any use to junior students. Indeed these details are sometime! worse than useless. I myself know more than one amateur student of geology who has been sorely puzzled at not having come across the Old Red Sandstone or the Mountain Limestone in New Zealand, but is still somewhat comforted by the conviction that at any rate he knows where to lay his hand on the Millstone grit.” Throughout the text of the" class-hook of elementary geology these leading features are borne in mind. The definitions are short and intelligible. There is no redundancy, and a student who goes carefully through this book will have no difficulty whatever in prosecuting to any extent the study of geology. We have no doubt this book will be adopted as a class-book in all our public schools, and we join with a Southern contemporary in the hope that it may be the forerunner of many text-books of the same class written by New Zealand men. "Very much that is taught in the class-books of our public schools is unsuited to the requirements of practical life in the colony ; time is thereby wasted which might be profitably applied; and a youth, on leaving school, finds himself with a stock of miscellaneous knowledge on hand, which he cannot readily turn to account. What is wanted is a set of class-books, like the one before us, specially adapted for the circumstances of the colony, and not class-books prepared es, ec al/ for use in Great Britain. Mr. Bowden has done something in this direction already, and we trust the sale of the “ Classbook of Elementary Geology,” which he has published, will be sufficiently remunerative to encourage him to persevere in the good and useful course he has so well begun.